Spinach Rice, Trail Version
Instant rice, dried spinach, and bouillon. One pot, thirty minutes shorter than the original.
- calories
- 620
- weight
- 4.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 138
- protein
- 11 g
- serves
- 1, scales
- prep
- 2 min
- cook
- 8 min
- total time
- 10 min
- water
- 450 ml boiled
- cost
- $
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Lunch
- Canister stove
- Alcohol / Esbit
- Liquid fuel
- Backpacking
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Canoe / raft
- Gluten free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Dump and stir
Ingredients
| Instant white rice | 1 cup dry | the parcooked kind, not long grain |
|---|---|---|
| Dried spinach flakes | 1/4 cup | freeze-dried or dehydrated, loosely packed |
| Chicken bouillon | 1 cube or 1 tsp powder | |
| Dried minced onion | 1 tbsp | |
| Butter powder | 2 tbsp | or 1 tbsp olive oil |
| Black pepper | a few grinds |
Method
- Boil 450 ml of water. Drop in the bouillon and the dried onion and let it go one minute so the onion starts to soften.
- Add the spinach flakes. Another minute. They rehydrate faster than the rice does.
- Dump in the rice, stir once, and kill the heat.
- Lid on, off the stove, ten minutes. Do not lift the lid to check.
- Stir in the butter powder or oil and the pepper. If it is soupy, lid it another two minutes.
The original is a stovetop side: raw long grain rice, a can of broth, a box of frozen spinach, and half an hour of simmering while you stir so it does not scorch. None of that survives a canister stove. Frozen spinach and canned broth are water you would be carrying, and thirty minutes of simmering is most of a fuel canister.
So the water leaves at home. Instant rice cooks on residual heat in a covered pot, bouillon replaces the broth, and dried spinach flakes rehydrate in the same water. Butter powder carries the fat the stick of butter used to. The onion goes in early because dried minced onion stays crunchy if you add it at the end.
Packing
Rice, spinach, onion, bouillon, and butter powder all go in one quart freezer bag at home. The oil, if you use it instead of butter powder, rides in a dropper bottle.
Variations
- A foil packet of chicken turns the side dish into a full dinner.
- Vegetable bouillon and oil in place of the butter powder makes it vegan.
- A squeeze of lemon powder or a pinch of citric acid cuts the salt.
https://mealswithmaria.site/spinach-rice-recipe