Three Square
Spring trail-ready recipes, including a fresh vegan take on an all-time classic
Backcountry Yogurt Parfait with Granola
While a parfait of creamy yogurt, crunchy granola, and fresh fruit might sound like something you’d order at a trendy brunch spot, this is a breakfast you can enjoy on the trail as well. The dried fruit and granola are easy enough. Store-bought versions of both can be readily purchased at nearly any grocery. Or, if you prefer to put your personal touch on them, it’s easy to dehydrate your own fruit and make granola from scratch. The real trick is the yogurt. You can buy dehydrated yogurt, but it’s not our favorite—it’s just too tangy. Instead, take a trip down the baby food aisle at your local grocery store, where you will find freeze-dried yogurt drops. While intended as baby food, these freeze-dried yogurt nuggets are a dead ringer for the real thing after being crushed and rehydrated. All you need to do is blitz them to a fine powder in a food processor, then rehydrate with cold water on the trail. The result is a creamy, sweet-tasting yogurt without overpowering tang.
- 1 ounce freeze-dried yogurt drops
- ¼ cup dried fruit of choice
- ¼ cup granola (recipe follows)
- At home: Place the freeze-dried yogurt in a small food processor or spice grinder and blast it into powder, then place in a zip-top bag with the dried fruit. Package the granola separately.
- In camp: Add ¼ cup cold water (more or less depending on your preferred consistency of the yogurt) to the powdered yogurt and fruit. Let it rehydrate, stirring occasionally, until creamy and smooth—about 5 minutes. Top with the granola.
Simple Granola
- 1½ cups old-fashioned rolled oats
- ½ cup chopped nuts
- 3 tablespoons neutral-flavored oil (such as coconut)
- 3 tablespoons honey
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- Preheat the oven to 375°F. Add all ingredients to a large mixing bowl and stir until combined well. Transfer to a lined baking sheet and press together to form a square about 1 inch thick. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until the oats turn golden brown on top. Let cool completely, then break into clumps and store in an airtight container.
Cowboy Caviar Salad
Featuring a mix of black beans, tomatoes, bell peppers, black-eyed peas, and corn, this cowboy caviar salad makes a super simple backpacking lunch. For years, backpacking lunches have challenged us. Caught between wanting a substantial midday meal but not wanting to cook, we often found ourselves turning to bulky snacks. Then we discovered the joy of cold soaking. Cold soaking offers the weight savings of dehydration with the satisfying volume of a full-sized lunch, all without having to break out the stove. Just add cold water to the dehydrated ingredients in a water-tight container an hour or two before you’re ready to eat. This cowboy caviar features protein-rich beans and peas, a bunch of healthy veggies, and spicy cumin seasoning. A sprinkling of True Lime gives it a bright citrus zing.
- ½ cup cooked black beans
- ½ cup cooked black-eyed peas
- ¼ cup chopped cherry tomatoes
- ¼ cup frozen corn
- ¼ cup diced bell pepper (any color)
- ½ bunch cilantro, large stems removed
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- ¼ teaspoon chili powder
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- 1 packet True Lime powder
- 1 olive oil packet (or 1 tablespoon)
- To dehydrate, spread the black-eyed peas, black beans, chopped tomatoes, corn, diced bell peppers, and cilantro onto dehydrator trays and dehydrate at 125°F until completely dry. The tomatoes may take longer to dehydrate than the rest of the ingredients, so keep them on a separate tray.
- Once all the ingredients are dry, let them cool completely and store in an airtight container with the cumin, chili powder, and sea salt for up to six months in a cool dark place.
- To pack for the trail, bring a leakproof container for cold soaking (clean peanut butter jars are ideal) together with one packet each of True Lime and olive oil. You can also bring the olive oil in its own container.
- On the trail, transfer the salad to your cold soak container and add about 200ml (a scant cup) of water. Let it soak for at least one hour, shaking occasionally. Once the ingredients have rehydrated, add the olive oil and True Lime to taste.
Vegan Mushroom Stroganoff
Beef stroganoff has been a staple backpacking meal for generations. Savory, creamy, and loaded with comforting carbs, it’s a great way to end a long day. As much as we love the original, we wanted to make an equally satisfying plant-based version. The first step was to remove the beef and double down on the mushrooms. The freeze-dried stroganoff you can buy at the outdoor store is made with flecks of processed mushrooms. This is your chance to switch those for some nice showcase shrooms. Dehydrating your own shiitakes, oysters, or even morels will dramatically improve the quality and texture of the final meal. The next challenge was replacing stroganoff’s signature cream sauce. We substituted with a cashew cream sauce, which can be dehydrated for storage and rehydrated on the trail. Not only does this replicate the rich, creamy texture of the original, but the nuts offer a replacement protein source to offset the removal of the beef.
- 4 ounces wide noodles (egg-free), cooked to package directions
- ½ pound mixed mushrooms, sliced to ¼-inch thin
- ¼ cup diced yellow onion
- 2 teaspoons vegetable bouillon
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- 2 olive oil packets (or 2 tablespoons)
- Cashew Cream
- ½ cup cashews
- ½ lemon, juiced
- 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- To make the cashew cream, soak the cashews in water for an hour. Drain, then add to a food processor or high-speed blender with the lemon juice, nutritional yeast, Dijon mustard, salt, and ⅓-cup water. Blend until completely smooth.
- Line a dehydrator tray with parchment paper and spread the cashew cream in a thin, even layer. Arrange the cooked noodles, sliced mushrooms, and diced onions on separate trays. Dehydrate the ingredients at 125°F until completely dry, 6 to 12 hours. The cashew cream will likely take the longest.
- Once the ingredients are dehydrated, let them cool completely. Transfer the dried cashew cream to a clean, dry food processor or spice grinder and let it rip (the smaller the ground pieces, the smoother the final sauce will be).
- Divide the dehydrated ingredients, vegetable bouillon, garlic powder, onion powder, and remaining salt between two airtight containers in a cool, dry place for up to two months. When packing for the trail, bring along the olive oil packets or store olive oil in a small leak-proof container.
- On the trail, add the ingredients to your cookpot along with 200ml (one scant cup) water. Cover the pot and bring to a boil for a minute. Stir, then remove from the heat and place your pot in a cozy for 10 minutes or until the meal has rehydrated. If you aren’t using a cozy, bring the meal to a boil and then reduce to a simmer until rehydrated.
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