Cold Soaked Rice and Beans

For lunch while thru-hiking the PCT in 2018 we mostly cold-soaked store bought prepared foods (Near East couscous or Knorr rice sides) that we had supplemented with additional dried beans and/or greens. By the end of the hike we were absolutely sick of our lunches. The store-bought pre-made foods were full of sodium and preservatives that tasted fine at first, but over time they became extremely noticeable and disgusting. In summer 2019, while hiking the German countryside, we started experimenting with our own backpacking lunch recipes. Cold soaked rice and beans is cheap, simple, and easy to prepare both on and off trail. And it doesn't taste like chemicals!

Ingredients (Serves 2 People):

1-1/4 cups cooked & dehydrated Basmati rice
1/3 + 1/4 cups dehydrated canned beans
1 tsp taco seasoning
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups water to rehydrate

Before the Trail:

Dehydrating:

Cook Basmati rice per directions on bag. After cooking, spread on dehydrator trays. Dehydrate at 135°F until it is hard (~5+ hours) breaking up clumps a couple of times.
Rinse canned beans and dehydrate at 135°F until they are crispy (~8+ hours).

Assembly:

Combine all ingredients in a bag. Vacuum seal bag if not eating soon.

On the trail:

Put all ingredients in cold soak jar with water, tightly close lid, and put in side pouch of backpack. Soak for a few hours while hiking. Enjoy!

Tips:

This recipe could also be cooked on the trail.
You could eat this on a tortilla and/or add some hot sauce.
You could use instant rice instead of cooking and dehydrating Basmati rice. Instant rice is not as nutritious or tasty though.
Do not vacuum seal bags completely to prevent pointy dehydrated veggies and rice from puncturing the bags. They will also fit better in your resupply boxes, backpack, and bear box if they are still somewhat flexible.