Rainbow Vegetable Cold Soak Salad
Dried rainbow vegetables rehydrated in a soy-sesame dressing while you walk.
- calories
- 420
- weight
- 3.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 120
- protein
- 9 g
- serves
- 1, scales
- prep
- 5 min
- cook
- 0 min
- total time
- 5 min
- water
- 300 ml cold
- cost
- $
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Lunch
- Dinner
- Cold soak
- No cook
- Backpacking
- Bikepacking
- Day hike
- Car camping
- Vegetarian
- Vegan
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- Eat in the bag
- Dehydrate ahead
- Shelf stable
- Dump and stir
Ingredients
| Dried bell pepper flakes | 1/3 cup | a mix of red, orange, and green if you dry your own |
|---|---|---|
| Dried shredded carrot | 3 tbsp | |
| Dried shredded red cabbage | 3 tbsp | holds color and never goes fully soft, which is the point |
| Dried cucumber slices | 2 tbsp | deseed before drying or they turn to mush |
| Sun-dried tomato | 2 tbsp | snipped small with scissors |
| Freeze-dried peas or edamame | 1/4 cup | this is where the protein comes from |
| Olive oil | 1 tbsp | |
| Toasted sesame oil | 1 tsp | |
| Rice wine vinegar | 1 tbsp | |
| Soy sauce | 2 tsp | packets, or tamari if you need it gluten-free |
| Maple syrup | 1 tsp | a single-serve packet is easiest |
Method
- At the first break, tip the dry vegetable mix into your jar and add 300 ml of cold water. Seal it.
- Let it ride in your pack for at least two hours. Four is better. The cabbage and carrot take the longest.
- Pour off any water that did not get absorbed. There usually is some.
- Add the oils, vinegar, soy sauce, and maple syrup. Seal and shake until everything is coated.
- Eat straight from the jar. It keeps a few hours in cool weather, not in the sun.
The original is a bowl of raw vegetables, which is a fridge dish and a heavy one. Dried, the same vegetables weigh a few ounces and rehydrate on their own while you hike. Cabbage and carrot are the ones that make this work: they hold structure after soaking instead of collapsing, so you still get something to chew. Cucumber and tomato go soft either way, so they act as flavor rather than crunch.
The dressing goes on last, not with the soak water. Salt and acid slow rehydration and pull water back out of the vegetables, so a jar dressed at the start ends up soupy and still hard in the middle. Draining before dressing also means the oil coats the vegetables instead of floating on a puddle.
Packing
Dry vegetables and peas go in one bag or straight in the soak jar. The five dressing liquids go in small dropper bottles or packets in a second zip bag, because one leak ruins the pack, not just the lunch.
Variations
- A pouch of tuna or a handful of dried tofu turns it into dinner.
- Chili flakes and a squeeze of lime powder push it further toward a slaw.
- No dehydrator: dried vegetable soup mix from the bulk bin works, just skip the salt in the dressing.
https://blog.9jakitchen.com/rainbow-vegetable-salad-vibrant-crunchy-recipe