couscous recipes

[devoidapop]

What are some of your favorite couscous recipes?

I'm planning meals for a trip and want to add a few new recipes. Just add boiling water recipes preferred.

I was thinking about couscous, sun dried tomato, sun dried olives anchovies, lemon zest, fennel seed, olive oil, and lots of sweet basil.

[bigcranky]

Couscous with dried mushrooms, dried tomatoes, pine nuts, and curry seasoning is one of our favorites. Add dried peas for more veg. (The Just Veggies brand is widely available and their freeze dried peas are lightweight and tasty.)

[Dogwood]

Cous cous is just tiny balls of semolina pasta as we know it in the U.S. In other countries cultures may add other grains like barley. I'd guesstimate any pasta recipe can be amended to cous cous 'pasta.' Cooks fast, can be pre soaked making cook time faster or even eaten after 'cooked' in tepid water, dense(not bulky for "pasta'), etc. I think it requires raising the nutritional profile - beyond simply calories! - and the cal/oz ratio. I think of it as not just a dinner section. I'll turn it into a quick cook or warm tepid water soak b'fast that includes powdered coconut milk, sliced almonds or walnut pieces or pistachios, pieces of crystallized ginger, cinnamon, dash of powdered cloves, sprinkle of cardamon(little goes a long way), TJ's dried banana pieces, a heaping tbsp of hemp hearts, heaping tbsp of chia seed, citrus zest(can be bought dried), and a packet of TJ's coconut oil. I'll do similar with dried blueberries, almonds or walnuts, bit of dried cranberries, and PEAK brand dried milk or MEYENBERG'S dried goat milk powder.

A more nutritious approach is using pre cooked quinoa, a seed, rather than cous cous OR at least adding something like millet to the cous cous.

[Slo-go'en]

Ever time I've tried couscous I end up over cooking it and turning it into mashed potatoes.

[imscotty]

I bring the Near East Couscous boxes on hike sometimes. My favorite is probably the pine nut and garlic one.

On my JMT hike I would catch and cook fresh caught trout and lay it on my couscous. That was my favorite evening meal.

[devoidapop]

I bring the Near East Couscous boxes on hike sometimes. My favorite is probably the pine nut and garlic one.

On my JMT hike I would catch and cook fresh caught trout and lay it on my couscous. That was my favorite evening meal.

Will you hike with me and catch trout?

[imscotty]

Will you hike with me and catch trout?

In the Sierras it was easy to catch trout, they were practically jumping into my pan :)

[AllDownhillFromHere]

Whatever flavor pack comes in the box.
Plus olive oil, coconut milk powder, freeze-dried cheese, cold-soaked lentils, and rehydrated veg.

[Venchka]

Israeli Pearl Couscous is the best. Lisa cooked some recently. Really good.
Wayne

[Dogwood]

Couscous with dried mushrooms, dried tomatoes, pine nuts, and curry seasoning is one of our favorites. Add dried peas for more veg. (The Just Veggies brand is widely available and their freeze dried peas are lightweight and tasty.)

That's along the lines of a dinner recipe I'll embark. I'll add EVOO and dried wasabi peas maybe even arame or wakame seaweed, which soaks soft fast, as too will crumbled Nori sheets, or when not in a hurry thick strap like Kombu kelp or a packet of Edwards&Sons Miso soup w/ bits of dried tofu and seaweed and whatever or wild sardines packed in lemon infused or Mediterranean spiced olive oil. Fish and EVOO goes well with seaweed. Bit of pine nuts ups the cal/oz ratio and the sardines or dried Badia Brand shrimp ups the protein content. EVOO, bit of flavorful dried tomato slivers, fresh dried basil, pine nuts and cous cous are a natural pairing if going vegetarian but the quality small triple or double layer King Oscar sardines in gold wrapping take it up that last notch to the Mediterranean. On short resupplies another option is kipper snacks or Mediterranean better chunk octopus packed in olive oil. Another meat option is to crumble an EPIC brand salmon bar into cous cous with whatever else. I find getting small amts of protein from multiple sources also taking the "drip method" keeps me from energy and muscle fatigue roller coasting with my greatest single protein intake probably the so called dinner at the end of the hiking day repairing muscle. High fat with the moderate protein amt is where I tend to aim on longer outings seeking to go into keto. It helps keep the food bag wt down while sustaining energy levels and accomplishing long duration nutritional goals when done right. I find that approach better than mass gorging every 4-8 day at resupply stops attempting to somehow make up for 5+ day energy and nutritional deficits. Gorging is a food habit that if not altered post hike can lead to quick wt gain and other health and fitness issues compounded with but not solely related to junk food diets.

[Dogwood]

Israeli Pearl Couscous is the best. Lisa cooked some recently. Really good.
Wayne
Different texture. Bulkier. More along lines of texture and size of pearled barley or med-lg tapioca pearls. I prefer Israeli cous cous at home but not regularly on trail for the texture break.

[SkeeterPee]

For these recipes do you cold soak your couscous, or just cook at dinner time?

[devoidapop]

Dogwood, do you keep a pantry of sorts in your food bag? meaning you have ingredients separated and ready to be thrown together to make a variety of dishes? or do you pre package ready to go meals? I understand the answer would be situational. Let's say on 3-7 day trips without resupply.

[chknfngrs]

I have cold soaked the Near East brand and it works spectacularly. Should be called lazy cous cous


For these recipes do you cold soak your couscous, or just cook at dinner time?

[bigcranky]

For these recipes do you cold soak your couscous, or just cook at dinner time?


Couscous doesn't really need cooking. I carry it in a freezer bag with all the extras, then pour boiling water into the bag and put it in a cozy for 5-10 minutes.

[Dogwood]

Dogwood, do you keep a pantry of sorts in your food bag? meaning you have ingredients separated and ready to be thrown together to make a variety of dishes? or do you pre package ready to go meals? I understand the answer would be situational. Let's say on 3-7 day trips without resupply.

Sometimes I buy on the fly making it up and repackaging in town with about every third resupply a mailed resupply. I have to mail a resupply box every 3rd or 4th box for meds so might as well add batteries, razors, spare socks, food, and drink mixes(electrolytes). Sometimes I buy food on the fly entirely. Other times I mail resupply entirely. Yet, other times I mail resupply and fill in the unknowns by supplementing in an adapting somewhat as I go approach. What approach taken depends on the trail, if it's a domestic or international hike, a route, etc. Sometimes I make it up as I go in which case I have to be more food flexible. FWIW, I always like to have food prepackaged about 6 -12 months in advance to be food and meds(supplements ) ready at a moment's notice. Right now I have 4 wks food already in stamped USPS med Flat Rate Priority boxes. Same with kits. One core base kit. Research. Lay it out. Review it in my mind. Double check. Tweak. Confidence. Check. Let's go. In 30 mins I can be out the door on a plane for a 2 month journey.

I do like keeping some things in the food bag all the time - clove of garlic, chunk of ginger rhizome, fresh green onion or shallot, fresh turmeric rhizome, cinnamon, some kind of fat(EVOO, Coconut oil, flaxseed, powdered coconut milk, powdered goat milk, etc). From late spring into fall I grow trail sprouts in a small hemp sack. These are items that flavor up with diversification and provide other benefits. Plus they disappear into the food bag.

[Dogwood]

Dogwood, do you keep a pantry of sorts in your food bag? meaning you have ingredients separated and ready to be thrown together to make a variety of dishes? or do you pre package ready to go meals? I understand the answer would be situational. Let's say on 3-7 day trips without resupply.

The pantry I keep is mostly at home. So, I prepackage sometimes and I throw together other times while commingling both approaches on the same hike.

One thing to be aware of is to make things amendable to snacks, b-fasts, lunch or dinner. A dinner can be b-fast or lunch. A dinner might be broken up into several snacks with a supposed b-fast eaten for dinner. Another thing when making up to be mailed boxes, or for that matter even buying on the fly, is to keep it diverse so not to get taste and texture bored. Those aren't terribly difficult goals to achieve IMHO. Grocery stores hold diversity of options. Peruse the shelves. Many common items beyond cous cous, dried mashed potatoes, packets of tuna, Vienna sausage tins, burrito wraps are available in large grocery stores. So many here on WB and other sites have offered great options. Garlic even has tersely stated how he goes no cook and cheap, as a Luddite would, :D buying in Dollar Stores. Another thing we can do is look at the recipes and ingredient list of IMHO high priced prepackaged backpacking and prepper foods and make them ourselves while tweaking for personal aims.

IMO we don't need food 'experts' or Foodies telling us what to always eat, that includes me telling others what they should do. Options. HYOH. Eating well on trail, how ever one might define it, does not have to be extremely difficult. YCMV. :) Your calories may vary.:)

[gwb]

Pizza Couscous: add Italian seasoning, sun dried tomatoes, pepperoni and parmesan cheese. Add a little evoo at the end. I usually just do a cold soak for an hour or more prior to wanting to eat. Cooks up fast if I didn't presoak.

[fudgefoot]

whole wheat couscous, dehydrated chopped carrots, dehydrated peas, cashews, raisins, curry powder, salt (optional). No cooking needed - just add water a couple hours before eating.

[nsherry61]

Ever time I've tried couscous I end up over cooking it and turning it into mashed potatoes.
That's cuz you're cooking it. Just stop. Add boiling water at most, or add cold water and be very patient, but don't "cook" the stuff.

My most common hot couscous "recipe" is couscous, a handful of freeze-dried vegetables, and a bit of either chopped up cured meat or canned meat (depending on what I have), maybe add a flavor pack (or not). Then eat. I've also experimented with cold couscous salad by chopping up fresh peppers, cucumbers or whatnot along with maybe some Feta cheese and/or sometimes some tuna and then a packet of whatever salad dressing I can pick up for free from the local grocery store deli counter that sounds good. Nuts might go good in a couscous salad as well, but I haven't tried that yet. Hmm. Fresh veggies work best in the first day or two at the most, out from the last resupply, but having fresh veggies for at least the first day from resupply on a trail helps me feel a lot better about the food I'm eating and adds more trail food variety.

#couscousrocks

[Traffic Jam]

One of my favorite trail meals...

Box of Parmesan flavored couscous (the smallest type of couscous)
Sundried tomatoes
Pine nuts and almonds (salad topper found in produce section at grocery store)
Shredded Parmesan cheese
pepperoni or similar protein
packet of concentrated chicken or vegetable broth
packet of olive oil

Divide the box of couscous and the Parm flavor packet in half and add the sun dried tomatoes. Prior to cooking, add the broth and cook via your preferred method. (For the smallest couscous...boil water, add the couscous, turn off the heat and let it sit for a little bit.) The nuts, shredded Parmesan cheese, protein, and olive oil are added after cooking.

[Traffic Jam]

I would like to try the larger couscous (Israeli couscous) while hiking and would be interested in any cooking tips.

[devoidapop]

I would like to try the larger couscous (Israeli couscous) while hiking and would be interested in any cooking tips.

Traffic Jam, if you do some recipe testing, please report back. I'm always looking for fun stuff to cook, at home and on trips.

I saw a post recently that mentioned instant stuffing and I've been thinking it could be a couscous replacement in most of these recipes.