Two-Ring Van Couscous with Salami
A whole dinner on one burner in ten minutes, built from a shelf stuck in a cabinet.
- calories
- 720
- weight
- 6 oz
- cal / oz
- 120
- protein
- 26 g
- serves
- 2, scales
- prep
- 3 min
- cook
- 8 min
- total time
- 11 min
- water
- 400 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
- Canister stove
- Liquid fuel
- Car camping
- Bikepacking
- Basecamp
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Flavored instant couscous | 1 1/2 cups dry | the boxed kind with the seasoning packet |
|---|---|---|
| Hard salami | 4 oz | whole stick, keeps for weeks unopened |
| Olive oil | 2 tbsp | |
| Dried onion flakes | 2 tbsp | |
| Sun-dried tomatoes | 1/4 cup | chopped, the dry-packed kind |
| Chicken or vegetable stock cube | 1 | |
| Black pepper | to taste |
Method
- Slice the salami into coins, then cut the coins in half.
- Heat the oil in your one pot and fry the salami until the edges curl and it releases fat. Two or three minutes.
- Add the onion flakes and sun-dried tomatoes. Stir for a minute so they soak up the fat.
- Pour in 400 ml water, crumble in the stock cube, and bring it to a boil.
- Kill the heat, stir in the couscous and the seasoning packet, and put the lid on.
- Wait five minutes. Fluff with a fork, grind pepper over it, eat out of the pot.
This came out of a conversation about cooking in a van with two gas rings and no freezer, and it survives being cut down to one ring. Couscous is the reason: it never boils, it just sits in hot water with the lid on while you do nothing. That frees the burner and means the pot is off the flame for most of the cook.
The salami does double duty. It is the protein, and the fat it renders is what the couscous absorbs instead of plain water. Dried onion and sun-dried tomatoes replace the fresh vegetables you would buy every couple of days with a shop nearby — they rehydrate in the same pot and add nothing to your cooler because you do not need one.
Packing
Couscous, onion flakes, tomatoes, and the crumbled stock cube go in one bag together. Salami and oil ride separately.
Variations
- Swap the salami for a foil pouch of tuna or chicken, stirred in at the end instead of fried.
- A tin of chickpeas, drained and added with the water, stretches this to three people.
https://wildcamping.co.uk/threads/cooking-in-the-van.14016