Drying your own meals allows you to adapt recipes from home or create new recipes, which will only serve to make your wilderness meals more pleasurable. The ideas are limitless and you may find inspiration from a variety of sources, such as a lunch at your favorite restaurant or a family classic adapted to suit your vegetarian lifestyle.
Adapting recipes is pretty simple. It can be as easy as dehydrating leftovers from the soup or ratatouille you had for dinner. The key is making sure that pieces are small enough to dehydrate and rehydrate properly. Being vegetarian has its perks—almost all vegetables dry very well with the exception of lettuce and most salad greens. Swiss chard, kale, and spinach dry nicely for use in soups and pastas. You can thinly slice vegetables such as zucchini, jicama, sweet potatoes, carrots, and parsnips and dry them to make your own vegetable chips. Frozen vegetables are already blanched and you can dry them right from the freezer. Legume- and bean-based dishes dry fabulously and rehydrate fairly quickly. When it comes to baked goods, many vegetarians are already adept when it comes to making adaptations and substitutions for dairy and eggs. I’ve included some common substitutions a little later in this chapter if this is new territory for you. Dried fruit can be rehydrated and used in place of fresh fruit in foods such as cobblers.
Creating recipes is fun, but a word of warning: ensure that you create and test the recipe at home a few times before using it on the trail. It’s rough when you have to force down a meal that is the texture of cardboard or that didn’t have a palatable flavor profile after being dried and rehydrated. Keep in mind that it’s not like at home, where you can head to the pantry if you’ve messed up. You might find that you are inspired by the flavor combinations in another meal that you enjoy. For example, the flavors in a dressing for an Asian salad could make a wonderful marinade for tofu jerky or could be used to enhance a rice and vegetable dish. The ideas are as limitless as your imagination.
Ingredient Substitutions for Vegetarians
Many products on the market make ingredient substitution very easy for backcountry meals, and you can make some more creative ingredient substitutions.
Egg Powder or Replacer
You can purchase egg powder that is suitable for baking but not for use as scrambled eggs. If you have an allergy to eggs or you are vegan, you can purchase egg-free egg replacer at your local health food store.
If you prefer, you can make your own egg replacer. It is similar to egg whites and works well in white cakes, muffins, and cookies. The addition of oil mimics a whole egg in baking. To make the equivalent of one egg, mix 1½ teaspoons tapioca starch, 1½ teaspoons potato starch (sometimes found with the kosher foods), and ⅛ teaspoon baking powder together and store it in a ziplock freezer bag. Then when you’re ready to use it at camp, add ¼ cup of water and 1 teaspoon of vegetable oil. Beat the mixture with a fork until it becomes a little foamy.
Ground flaxseed can be used in muffins, breads, or other baked goods, but it imparts a flavor that might be unpleasant in a cake or cookies. Keep the ground flaxseed cool and away from air and light to prevent it from becoming rancid; this recipe is not suitable for use in hot weather or more than two days into a trip. Store the seeds in the refrigerator until you leave for your trip. To make the equivalent of one egg, use 2 tablespoons ground flaxseed. If you cannot find ground flaxseed, then grind whole flaxseed. Pack the powder in a ziplock freezer bag, removing as much air as possible and storing it away from sources of heat and light. When you’re ready to use it, add 3 tablespoons of water to the ground flaxseed and let it sit 3–5 minutes. Add to your recipe like you would regular eggs.
Chia seeds also make a great egg replacer that can be used in baked goods. Chia turns gooey when water is added to it and becomes very much like an egg white in consistency. Use 1 tablespoon of chia seeds with 3 tablespoons of water to make the equivalent of one whole egg. If you don’t want the texture of the seeds in your baking, you can grind the chia into meal first. The darker chia will make some baked goods a little gray in color, but you can also buy white chia seeds if appearance is an issue.
Sweeteners
Both white and brown sugar can be replaced with Splenda white or brown sugar. Read the instructions on the package for equivalents. Stevia is a good sugar substitute that is available at most health food stores. It is very sweet so you only need a small amount. Organic raw sugar can be substituted for white sugar in recipes as well. Maple sugar makes a great replacement for white sugar and adds a wonderful hint of maple. Honey and maple syrup can also be substituted for one another in most recipes. Because honey is more acidic, you may have to add a pinch of baking soda if you are using it to replace maple syrup. You can also substitute sugar with real maple syrup using ¾ cup syrup for every cup of sugar you are replacing. Keep in mind that it is liquid and may change the texture of the recipes, so reduce the recipe liquid by 3 tablespoons for every cup of maple syrup used. Agave nectar or brown rice syrup can be used as replacement for honey or maple syrup.
Cheese and Other Dairy
Many vegetarians do not consume dairy products, but these days there are alternatives. One can buy “cheese” made from rice or soy. Read the label to ensure the product is casein free. Some of the cheeses aren’t good for melting but the rice “mozzarella” melts fairly well compared to soy mozzarella. You can even purchase soy-based “feta.” Rice and soy yogurts are available, and silken tofu blended with vanilla and fruit makes a wonderful replacement for pudding. Mayonnaise-type salad dressings made from soy can be found easily, as can vegan-friendly “butter.” Powdered soy milk is readily available and, although a little difficult to find, you can order powdered almond milk on the Internet. Coconut powder can be added to water to make coconut milk. If you aren’t worried about pack weight, you can find shelf-stable Tetra Paks of soy, rice, and almond milk in larger grocery stores.
Whole Wheat Flour
You can increase the fiber in a recipe by replacing up to one-third of the white flour called for with whole wheat flour. This substitution, however, will change the texture, giving you a coarser and denser product. Pastry flour contains less gluten than all-purpose flour and is great for baked goods that require a finer texture.
Chocolate
Carob and carob powder are great substitutes for chocolate and will work well in most recipes; however, there will be a difference in flavor.
Gluten-free Substitutions
Oats
Sometimes oats are not gluten free; however, you can purchase gluten-free oatmeal. That said, quinoa flakes are a great substitute for oatmeal whether you are having it as a hot cereal, making muffins, or creating a crumble topping for your favorite baked fruit.
Couscous
Both Israeli (pearl) and Moroccan styles of couscous are made from wheat. Quinoa, millet, and amaranth make good substitutes. To make them instant, cook the grain and then dehydrate on lined dehydrator trays at 135° 5–8 hours.
Gluten-free Pasta
There are alternatives to wheat pasta. Rice noodles cook very quickly but don’t have the same texture as traditional Italian pasta. Quinoa and amaranth pastas are more similar in texture to regular pasta and are a good source of protein. Sometimes you can find gluten-free soba noodles, but be careful to read the package, as some brands contain wheat flour. Small pastas such as orzo can be replaced with rice, amaranth, or quinoa. Some people with celiac disease are able to tolerate kamut pasta.
Gluten-free Mixes
A variety
