It’s also easy to make in your home kitchen
It may not look like much in my vintage Sierra cup, but this beefy noodle dish is packed with flavor.
Mark Guydish | For Times Leader
The thing that makes this dish so suitable for lightweight travel: If you have all dehydrated ingredients, it fits in one bag (I used canned peas, as shown).
Mark Guydish | For Times Leader
MT feigns exhaustion upon reaching a sign on the Appalachian Trail that reads “Congratulations! You have reached the end of the roller coaster. Built and maintained by the trail boss and his crew of volunteers. We hope you enjoyed your ride.” It’s a section of trail that goes up and down a good bit, but I’ve hiked tougher stretches of the AT. And, yes, she’s just wearing a daypack; we slack-packed this stretch, with my brother Jay meeting us at road-accessible campgrounds, bringing the rest of our gear in his car.
Mark Guydish | For Times Leader
A while back, MT and I took a few days to hike about 20 miles of the Appalachian Trail in West Virginia, which gave me another chance to try some backpacking recipes I’ve collected. They are intended to be economical alternatives to the more costly pre-packaged freeze-dried meals sold at places like REI.
I’ve already written about a few for the test kitchen. On a 2020 hike in New York I made a Hawaiian baked bean and ham dish that’s a bit heavy because of the canned beans, ham and pineapple. I also made a sweet-and-spicy cashew chicken wrap for a 2021 hike in southern Pennsylvania, and that October an outdoor “Thanksgiving dinner” became our 20th wedding anniversary feast while backpacking the West Rim Trail in Tioga County.
MT and I hiked the West Rim Trail as part of our honeymoon vacation in 2001. We celebrated our 10th anniversary in 2011 on the trail as well. With luck and health, I hope to return for our 30th.
All of these recipes work fine at home as well, especially if you’re in a hurry. And the simplicity makes them kid-friendly, if you have youngsters interested in helping you cook. This one is very well-suited for backpacking or camping because it uses no canned goods — though since I didn’t have any dehydrated veggies I took along a small can of peas.
The seasoning gives it plenty of zing, and you can add more with some flavored jerky variation. If you make it at home you could skip the jerky in favor of browned ground beef, and use fresh vegetables.
And if you are wondering why we went all the way to West Virginia— it was the easiest state to complete. Over the decades, I’ve hiked all of the AT in Pennsylvania, Maryland and New Jersey. It actually keeps weaving between Virginia and West Virginia from Harpers Ferry heading south, then begins a long slog (544 miles, about a quarter of the whole trail) through Virginia.
Not sure I’ll ever do that, but I take comfort knowing that if I had done all my backpacking trips only on the AT, I’d be about 80% done.
Dobru chut!
Beefy noodles
4 tablespoons shredded beef jerky
1 3-ounce package ramen noodles
1 1-ounce package instant onion soup
2 tablespoon mixed dehydrated vegetables
¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon dried cilantro
1-2 packets soy sauce
At home: Combine all of the dry ingredients in a large freezer bag.
On the trail: Boil 2 cups of water. Add water to bag and stir. Let noodles soften and vegetables rehydrate for about 5 minutes. Season with soy sauce to taste.
Serves 2
Local journalism matters, and your support makes it possible. You can help sustain this work by making a donation or choosing one of our subscription options. Subscribers enjoy valuable benefits, including full access to our e-edition, a reduced ad experience on timesleader.com, and more.
Your support helps ensure independent, high-quality local news remains available today and for future generations. Thank you for standing with local journalism.
