Ingredients (Serves 2 People):
- 1-1/4 cups macaroni noodles
- 1-1/4 cups dehydrated chili
- 3 cups water to rehydrate
Before the Trail:
Dehydrating:
Dehydrate your favorite cooked chili at 135°F until it is crispy (~8+ hours, flipping once). See below for our favorite vegan chili recipe.
Assembly:
Combine macaroni noodles and dehydrated chili in a bag. Vacuum seal bag if not eating soon.
On the Trail:
Put all ingredients in pot with water and cover. Soak for 5 minutes. Bring to a boil, and boil for 2 minutes. Soak for 10 more minutes. Enjoy!
Tips:
- Buy noodles that have a cooking time of 7 minutes or less.
- Do not vacuum seal bags completely to prevent pointy dehydrated chili from puncturing the bags. They will also fit better in your resupply boxes, backpack, and bear box if they are still somewhat flexible.
- Fritos make a great topping!
Our Favorite Vegan Chili Recipe
Soy sauce and lime give this chili an amazing flavor. The cracked wheat gives it a wonderful texture that is somewhat comparable to a ground-beef based chili. Despite the long list of ingredients, the cooking process is relatively simple. (Recipe adapted from The Whole Foods Market Cookbook.)
Ingredients:
- Splash of canola oil (as little as possible to prevent spoilage if you plan to dehydrate and store this for a long time)
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 2 large carrots, chopped
- 2 stalks celery, sliced
- 2 bell peppers (any color), chopped
- 1 jalapeno pepper, minced
- 5 cloves garlic, minced
- 1.5 Tbsp chili powder
- 1 Tbsp oregano
- 2 tsp cumin
- 1 cup tomato sauce
- 2 cans (~14.5 oz each) chopped tomatoes
- 8 cups water
- 4-8 tsp vegetable bouillon (to match the water, as per directions)
- 1 cup cracked wheat or bulgur
- 2 cups cooked kidney beans (or 1 can)
- 2 cups cooked black beans (or 1 can)
- 2 limes
- 1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce
Place a large pot on medium-high heat. Sautée onion, carrots, celery, bell peppers, and jalapeno pepper in the oil until they soften a bit. Add minced garlic and sautée for another minute. Add chili powder, oregano, and cumin, and mix until veggies are coated. Add tomato sauce, crushed tomatoes, water, bouillon, kidney beans, and black beans. If using cracked wheat, add now (if using bulgur, it will be added later). Turn down heat, cover, and simmer for a total of 50 minutes. If using bulgur, add to mixture with approximately 15-20 minutes remaining of simmering time. During simmer, stir occasionally to prevent the cracked wheat or bulgur from settling and burning to the bottom of the pot. After simmering, add lime juice and soy sauce and stir to incorporate.
Dehydrating Chili
Dehydrate by pouring entire chili mixture onto dehydrator trays and running for approximately 8 hours, flipping halfway through. This chili re-hydrates great on its own, but we prefer it with noodles as described above. Either way, after a long day of hiking there is little better than a bowl of chili topped with Fritos.
