Backpacker's Lightweight Mushroom Ragout and Mashed Potatoes

It’s sometimes tricky to pack tons of flavor into really lightweight meals. It can end up going very wrong pretty easily if the flavor isn’t adjusted while cooking. This is a filling and flavorful meal that weighs virtually nothing. It’s a great use of a farmer’s market score of mushrooms as well. If you’re vegetarian, this is a perfect savory recipe for you.

This delicious trail lunch makes a perfect compliment to our Raw Lemon Amazeballs which are a super fast grab while trekking.

2 lbs portobello mushrooms, sliced
2 tbsp olive oil
1 shallot, minced
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tsp fresh rosemary, minced
2 tsp thyme, leaves only
1 tbsp soy
1 tbsp Worcester

2 c Instant potatoes (I use Bob’s Red Mill)
2 tbsp nutritional yeast (I use Bragg’s)
1 tsp powdered milk, optional (remove if vegan)
2 tsp salt

In your saucepan, heat the olive oil. Add in the shallots and garlic and cook until they become fragrant and the shallots have softened. Next add in the mushrooms and cook until they are slightly wilted. Add in the rest of the ingredients and cook for another minute or so and take off of the heat.

To dehydrate, spread this mix out on a plastic sheet in your dehydrator until completely dry. This took me about 6 hours at 135 degrees. Set aside until completely cooled.

In four Ziplock snack size bags. Split up the ingredients for the potatoes evenly between them. Keep the mushrooms in four separate bags because you will need to rehydrate at camp. They will take about 12-15 minutes to hydrate. You can either heat them up and serve them over the potatoes or mix them in with the cooked potatoes as you see in the image above. The potatoes will be cooked by adding 1/2 a cup of hot water to each of the bags and fluffing them up. The nutritional yeast makes a convincing butter if you’re wondering why that’s in there.

Serves 4