View Full Version : beans lentils quinoa
The Phoenix
03-26-2009, 10:52
I'm T-minus 2 weeks!!! And am firing on many cylinders... but as far as my diet on the trail I still have a little anxiety.
Beans, Lentils, and Quinoa... which is the best... protein wise, taste wise, easy to cook up wise???
Taste is probably least important because as long as I got my favorite spices and hot sauce I can just drench anything in it and I enjoy it.
I've always enjoying beans and lentils out in the woods, but I am more concerned with nutrition with this upcomming trip. What will give me the most fuel?
P.S. just an additional question... what are yalls go to meal (comfort foods) if it was an awful day (ex. long rainy hike... cold windy muddy etc etc) what do you turn to? I've always been a mac&cheese guy out in the woods with maybe some summer sausage and plenty of hot sauce. Just interested in hearing others meals of choice out in the great outdoors
Thanks as always,
The Phoenix
mister krabs
03-26-2009, 11:14
that's like asking what's better, apples oranges or persimmons. lentils cook faster than most beans. Like persimmons, I don't like the taste of quinoa, regardless of what's on it. They say you can rinse that bitter a$$ taste off, but never enough for me.
When I'm looking for comfort and flavor, I turn to bacon. Specifically the shelf stable real bacon bits. Bacon makes everything better.
Cold day? Cheddar cheese soup, lots of it.
Cold day? Cheddar cheese soup, lots of it.
Or onion and tater soup :D Yum!
Lentils will cook fast (I am hedging you are using raw beans and lentils?) Quinoa is fast cooking but you really, really have to like it. I can't stand the stuff - though I do like Red Quinoa - it is a different texture :) It cooks in a good 10 minutes. But....it is an odd grain - hard to put with other items.
Quinoa, cooks the quickest unless you're using dehydrate beans/lentils. Probably more protein and less gas too. Quinoa AND beans I think will give you a complete protein.
Some time ago, I posted wondering if one can buy powdered peas or squash which could then be rehydrated. That would be quick, nourishing trail food. Add potatoes, carrots, onions, garlic and spices to pea powder and you'd have a quick pea soup.
Somewhere, I have a recipe for chestnut-squash soup. When the chestnut returns to Appalachia, chestnut-squash soup might be a preferred meal to warm hikers on cold and rainy October days.
Quinoa may be a complete protein in itself. I need to refresh my memory.
Consider whole-grain couscous. It's easily and quickly prepared and requires far less water than boiling macaroni which contributes to devegetation and sterilization of soils around shelters. Packing water and boiling it only to pour it on the ground increasingly makes little sense to me.
The precious heat generated by cooking should be conserved insofar as possible and used to warm oneself. Consuming natural and personal resources for the purpose of heating water only to discard it strikes me as more than inefficient, it's wasteful.
quinoa is a complete protein.
http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts/cereal-grains-and-pasta/5705/2
lentils
http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts/legumes-and-legume-products/4338/2
beans (kidney)
http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts/vegetables-and-vegetable-products/2324/2
What to bring though? I think it is a matter of taste.
Whole wheat couscous is so good, you don't even need hot water to eat it! It will soak in cool water for cold pasta salads in under 30 minutes :) One of my favorite things to take with me......
I recently read small red beans had the highest antioxidant content of all foods tested in a recent study. Maybe someone else has seen it and can post the source. It may have been USDA. Click WebMD (http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/news/20040617/antioxidants-found-unexpected-foods) for an article which includes the top 20 list.
"Beans, Lentils, Quinoa - BAM!!"
Emeril La Gas Pain. :p
theinfamousj
03-26-2009, 23:06
Regards to comfort food -- Black beans and rice at home. Dehydrate. Eat on the trail. Can't get enough!
Other "store bought" comfort foods: pink box of Pasta-Roni. Will need a repackage but yum!
Quinoa always seems to sprout on me whenever I try to cook it. Weird, I know.
Quinoa always seems to sprout on me whenever I try to cook it.
It's not sprouting when you cook it. I don't remember the name of the structure to which you refer, but I'll look it up and post it along with an image if I can find one tomorrow should someone else not get to it first.
Didn't know about WW couscous. I like that multicolored kind. Too bad it's pricey.
Good point on the boiling water issue Emerald.
It's not sprouting when you cook it. I don't remember the name of the structure to which you refer, but I'll look it up and post it along with an image if I can find one tomorrow should someone else not get to it first.
Yeah, it "pops" open in a way. :)
Cookerhiker
03-27-2009, 07:58
No one mentioned bulgur wheat which is a staple of mine on all backpacks. Cooks in about 7 minutes. I mix it with a sauce packet or ground peanuts.
I also like quinoa and whole-wheat couscous.
mister krabs
03-27-2009, 09:57
It's not sprouting when you cook it. I don't remember the name of the structure to which you refer, but I'll look it up and post it along with an image if I can find one tomorrow should someone else not get to it first.
the germ, it's the filament that runs along the outside.
Damn I don't know where you guys get your quinoa from... I hear these horror stories about them "sprouting" and tasting like dirt... The quinao i get from the health-coop down the street has some good stuff... it almost entirely lacks a flavor... i treat it like grits (just have to boil it longer) and I would either put brown sugar in it, salt, butter, olive oil or mayonnaise packets. if anybody wants me to send them a sample of this stuff for comparison, lemme know, I might have a great source!
No one mentioned bulgur wheat which is a staple of mine on all backpacks. Cooks in about 7 minutes. I mix it with a sauce packet or ground peanuts.
I also like quinoa and whole-wheat couscous.
I take bulgur, too, but I've never cooked it - just let it soak while I hike. Some bulgur and water in a tupperware at lunch, it's ready at dinner time (or soak at breakfast/ready for lunch). mix with olive oil and lemon crystals.
Cookerhiker
03-27-2009, 23:00
No one mentioned bulgur wheat which is a staple of mine on all backpacks. Cooks in about 7 minutes. I mix it with a sauce packet or ground peanuts.
I also like quinoa and whole-wheat couscous.
I take bulgur, too, but I've never cooked it - just let it soak while I hike. Some bulgur and water in a tupperware at lunch, it's ready at dinner time (or soak at breakfast/ready for lunch). mix with olive oil and lemon crystals.
Good idea.
The Phoenix
04-03-2009, 17:55
I've been eatin quinoa the past couple days... I think it's pretty damn good with a little butter and salt. As of now (eatin plenty the past week or so) I would recommend it.
Be well,
The Phoenix
Surplusman
04-07-2009, 12:42
How about good old Appalachian Trail Mix? 1 part lentils, 1 part barley, 2 parts brown rice. 2/1 ratio water to the mix. Put some in a container with hot water in the am and with very little cooking in the pm it's ready to eat. Great with lots of hot sauce!
That sounds tasty, Surplus.
or add some curry. Bahm! Bahm!
Surplusman
04-07-2009, 13:49
That sounds tasty, Surplus.
or add some curry. Bahm! Bahm!
Right on, Right on, Right on.:)