Does anyone have any good dinner recipies using couscous that I can use
for freezer bag cooking? I would really
like something Turkish.

This isn't really what your looking for, but Mary Jane's Farm "Organic Wild Forest Mushroom Couscous" is excellent & you don't have to "cook" anything.

Hey David.....I am working on it. Bugging my friend Dicentra for ideas and feedback. I have a good one not on the website that has garbonzo beans in it. It is pretty good!

Btw, I tried to email you back and it didn't like your email address :-(

When I get my ideas ready, how about I post them here for you? :-)

Edited by sarbar on 08/18/2007 17:27:29 MDT.

Here's one I've come up with, partially adapted from Sarbar's recipes and partially from an ethnic cookbook:

Curried Chicken Cranberry Couscous
At home, in quart freezer bag mix:
3/4 cup couscous
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1 tbsp dried onion flakes
1/2 tsp dried parsely
1 1/2 tbsp curry powder
1/2 tsp salt

In camp add:
1 packet chicken (6oz)
1 1/4 cup boiling water

Let sit 8 min, then add:
1/4 cup walnuts
2 tbsp olive oil

Stir, serves 2.

I played with the seasoning a bit since I tend to like it a bit spicer. You could cut the curry seasoning back if you want a milder taste.

Edited by rswanson on 08/22/2007 14:29:01 MDT.

That is an awesome recipe!

Indian Pitas:

In a quart freezer bag put:
3/4 cup couscous
1/4 cup craisins
1/4 cup diced dried apricots
1/2 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp ground pepper
1 Tbsp homemade low sodium bullion (or 1 tsp commercial low sodium)
1 tsp dried onion

Also take:
2 large pitas
2 ounces swiss cheese (or favorite cheese)
1 Tbsp olive oil

Add 1 1/4 cups boiling water and the oil to the couscous. Stir well, and let sit for 5 minutes. (Does not need a cozy unless you want to eat it hot in the pitas). When ready, cut the pitas in half, add in a 1/4 of the cheese to each pocket, and fill with couscous.
Serves 2.

Blue Mountain Couscous:

In a quart freezer bag put:

2/3 cup couscous
2 Tbsp dried chives
1 - 2 tsp curry powder (or more)
1 Tbsp homemade low sodium bouillon (or 1 tsp commercial low sodium)
1 tsp granulated garlic
6 sun dried tomatoes, diced (not packed in oil)
Handful of unsalted pistachios or pine nuts, chopped

In camp, pour in one cup of boiling water. Mix well and let sit for 10 minutes in a cozy.

Serves 1.

I just made Russell's curried chicken curry recipe above, and it's great! I'm swapping out one of my mashed potato dinners for next week's trip and tucking this in instead. I needed to add a bit more water than it called for, and I toned down the curry, because I'm a spice wimp.

Your recipe looks great. My wife and I both like spicy. I will
probably try it on a BWCA next month.

Russell, I really like your recipe but where does one get chicken in a pouch? I've looked all over!

Nick, if you have Target or Walmart that sells food, take a look. The pouched chicken is sold with the tuna and canned meats.
If you can't find them, a 5 ounce can works well, and if you get the "natural" types (just water or stock added) you can use the liquid in the can in the recipe.

Thanks Sara. I'll take a look at target. No Walmart near where I live. Wanted to use foil ouches instead of cans for packing ability regarding bear canisters and the tins are heavier than foil.

Came across this as a wonderful meal when you need to take a very last minute trip out and don't have time to put together meals yourself. Each container cost me $1.69.

I was in a health food store in Manhattan the other day and came across Health Valley's Lentil w/ Couscous Soup. Comes packaged in a paper cup with peel off paper lid. You add water to within half inch of the top of the container and let it sit for five to seven minutes. Container is bigger than the standard soup in a cup I've seen in supermarkets; yields 12-14 ounces of soup. Net weight is 2.65 ounces.

Ingredients listed: couscous (100% semolina), lentils, dehydrated vegetables (tomatoes, onions, garlic, carrots, spinach), sea salt, curry powder, vinegar powder, chili peppers, parsley, ginger, white pepper, jalapeño pepper, cayenne pepper.

Nutritional Facts: serving size is 1/3; 2 servings per container.


Total Fat (saturated and Trans) 0g
Cholesterol 0g
Sodium 310mg
Total Carbs 28g
Fiber 5g
Sugars 1g
Protein 7g

Prep:

I added just a little extra curry and cayenne powder. I would have liked to have added some powdered coconut milk but I haven't ordered that yet. I then repackaged in a Ziploc. I guesstimated about one and half cups of water. Added hot water and placed pouch in my AGG cozy for 6 minutes. After that added one four ounce tin of my favorite Spanish tuna in olive oil and mixed really well with my usual plastic spoon.

Results:

Not too soupy. Thick but not a sticky mess. Just perfect IMHO. Less watery than Enertia meals (e.g., Max Pac and Cheese) with their recommended amount of water. Tasted delicious! And I just had this as a regular lunch in my kitchen, i.e., I wasn't starving after a long day on the trail and looking forward to eating just anything. Would probably taste better with some of that coconut powder.

Gonna try some of their other offerings.

Disclaimer: No affiliation to said (or any) company.

Edited by nyc_paramedic on 09/15/2007 12:53:47 MDT.

http://www.spicehunter.com/meals_in_a_cup.cfm?&DID=27

Spice Hunter makes risotto in cups to add boiling water to. With some dried vegetables added and maybe some meat they are pretty filling.

I used to use Nile Spice cups as well! The couscous ones are good!

Hey Russel, what is the consistency of a dish like that? Dry and fluffy or more like a thick soup or stew?

I had not had couscous until this summer. now I will never leave it behind on any trip. This past summer it was a staple dinner for my trail crew. The day after a couscous dinner I felt 100%. It is also great because you can mix it up and add almost anything to it.

I like couscous too and take it on most trips, but for some reason I don't like it too much for dinner. Couscous makes a great breakfast. I just add sugar, cinnamon, some raisins and maybe some nuts.

> Does anyone have any good dinner recipies using couscous

Not sure you can put 'couscous' and 'good dinner' in the same sentence... I prefer real food.

Sounds like you need to have it prepared right ;-) The lentil and couscous recipe I posted last week could change your mind about it :-)

There is yes bad couscous and then there is tasty couscous!

These sound great. I'll eat any one-pot meal that has couscous, chicken, and fruit of any kind.

If you really don't like couscous, substitute dehydrated Quinoa.

--B.G.--

"Not sure you can put 'couscous' and 'good dinner' in the same sentence... I prefer real food."

For instance?

Couscous is a form of pasta. Make it plain and it tastes bland to yucky. Spice it up well and it can be yummy! The only person I know who likes plain pasta is my 5-year-old grandson, and even he puts olive oil on it!

If you don't want the weight and bulk of the cans or foil packages, you can dehydrate the canned chicken before your trip.

Edited by hikinggranny on 06/10/2010 21:38:20 MDT.

"Couscous is a form of pasta"

Which is also available made with whole wheat flour. Not bad for unreal food.

Couscous can taste bland - but then ALL pasta tastes plain without anything on it.
A little oil, a liberal application of Parmesan cheese, some pepper and that makes any plain pasta taste good.

I carry a cup of couscous for my emergency/last nights dinner. It is a great way to use up the last of the odds and ends in your food bag and still have a tasty dinner. This is how I prepare it.

1. Mix the couscous with some dried fruit (cranberries, raisins, cherries) and some crushed nuts (walnuts are good). If no indivual nuts or fruits are left in the foodbag, just dump the leftover trail mix in.

2. If the fruits and nuts above where salted you don't need this next step. Add boiling water to dissolve half a bouillon cube.

3. After you've the added boiling water, sqeeze out the last of the olive oil you've been carrying and see if you have any cheese left in that foodbag.

4. Be creative, you can throw almost anything in. Once I used up what was left of a bag of chips - it tasted pretty good.

"I carry a cup of couscous for my emergency/last nights dinner."

Bulgar, or cracked, wheat is an excellent replacement for cous cous, especially as emergency food. You can soak it for an hour or two, drain it, and mix with nuts, dried fruit, some milk, and possibly a sweetener, and have a very tasty breakfast type cereal dish. Alternatively, you can proceed as Nia wrote above for an evening meal. The advantage is that bulgar wheat requires no cooking/boiling water to be tasty and edible. It makes a lot of sense to have at least one meal planned around it on longer trips if you are cutting your fuel allocation close.

BTW, couscous can be rehydrated with cold water. Give it 30 minutes and eat away!

Couscous
Feta cheese
anchovies packed in oil
1 zuccinni
1 shallot
olives re-packed in olive oil with chopped garlic, and some herbs and spices and hot sause.
some dried seaweed.

so good.

I always thought raw couscous takes a long time to cook..

so what is this couscous that can cook by just sitting in hot water for 10 mins?

Are you using some kind of pre-cooked couscous? The kind that comes in a cardboard box? Or is this real raw couscous, the kind you can buy in bulk etc?

I'm preparing about 60 dinners for two of us doing the CT trail in about 35 days.. I was thinking of mainly buying pasta and spaetzle , cooking it and then dehydrating it and packing it.

If I can just BUY couscous, that'll save me a LOT of trouble..

Any other pasta-replacement idea when preparing huge amounts of food? Are there any pre-cooked pastas?

Ptitim, also called Israeli Couscous takes a while to cook/steam with a simmer, that possibly where you are confused. These are large pearl size balls of pasta.

Regular couscous, small granules, takes about 5-10 minutes with hot water and require no further cooking.

Almost all couscous sold in the US is the instant kind - it is precooked and ready to be used. Israeli as mentioned needs to be cooked but is also considerably larger in size - and is usually found in the Jewish food section of stores.

You can also use ramen (baked is best) and Lo Mein (known as Chuka Soba) noodles also. All of them don't need to be "cooked" - a simple soaking in hot water works.

Yes, I paid attention at the grocery store and picked up both couscous and bulgur wheat.

Greatly simplifies my 60 meal preparation..

I'll also check out this low-mein / ramen thing.. any other pre-cooked cereals high in calories would be most welcome!! (So far I have mashed potato powder, couscous, bulgur .. and I'm planning to cook and dehydrate several kinds of pasta including egg pasta -- spaetzle. But this is obviously energy and time consuming.)

Currently, my favorite is Quinoa. I cook it, then dehydrate it overnight. What comes out I call "Instant Quinoa." In camp, it rehydrates easily and mixes with other things just like rice.

--B.G.--

At some natural food stores you can find an instant version of quinoa that comes in packets just like instant oatmeal. Look in the hot cereals for it. You can use it for a savory base - think like using instant grits, which I might add make a tasty base for cheese/hots sauce and shelf stable bacon.

I'm still waiting for Sarbar to do the FBC version of chicken fried steak and gravy. I'm still not sure I know what couscous is.

"any other pre-cooked cereals high in calories would be most welcome!! (So far I have mashed potato powder, couscous, bulgur"

Bring along some olive oil, or other vegetable oil. It goes well with all of the carbs you mention and will bump the calorie count considerably since any vegetable oil contains ~250 calories/oz. Ground up nuts is another good addition that will add 170-200 calories/oz. I say ground up because they take up less space that way. Also, Nido whole fat powdered milk could be used. It contains 152 calories/30 gram serving. A combination of Nido and a sprinkling of Butter Buds makes for delicious mashed potatoes. Neither takes up much space.

Replace that Butter Buds (or Molly McButter) with butter powder for a tastier version :-)

FBS chicken fried steak? Pick one up at the diner on the way to the TH, pack in bag, eat for lunch.

Hehheh!!!!

I often make couscous with a bit of salt, hot pepper, and a pouch of that salmon you find near the Spam at the store. It's great!

I think Molly McButter and Butterbuds are zero fat products. Order the real stuff from Packit Gourmet or King Arthur flour. :)

"Replace that Butter Buds (or Molly McButter) with butter powder for a tastier version"

Possibly tastier than olive oil and Butter Buds, but decidedly less healthy. Myself, I'm partial to olive oil. Taste is a subjective affair.