Dehydrated Braised French Lentils

Dec 23

This rich and hearty vegetarian braise with carrots, mushrooms, leeks, celery and onion plus textural dark lentils for protein and carbs ticks all the boxes.

Braised French Lentils in a pot with spoon — For those who love lentils without the heat of curry spices, this delicious recipe is likely to become one of your regular hiking meals. At home this is one of our favourite winter warmers so it seemed a no-brainer to make it for our hikes as well, and it is wonderfully filling. We sometimes make ours with chicken stock, but vegans and vegetarians can use good quality vegetable stock because the mushrooms — especially the porcini — add such depth of flavour.
We prefer the French or Puy lentils in this because they hold their shape rather than disintegrating but, if you prefer a mushier texture, you can use red or brown lentils instead.

This meal is also extremely lightweight for the nutrition it provides, especially if, like us, you add a small splash of olive oil in camp. Our serves of 152 grams (5.4oz) per person with 15ml of olive oil provide 33g (1.2oz) of protein and 2980 kJ/750 Calories - adjust quantities for more, or add TVP when packaging for more protein; carnivores can add 1kg/2lbs of lean chicken or beef mince to the recipe.

Because it’s so light, it’s the perfect meal to carry as a spare on longer hikes, or to use towards the end of your hike.

raw ingredients on wooden tabkle — Ingredients*

600g Swiss brown mushrooms, finely diced
2 tbspn olive oil
4 large carrots, finely diced
4 large celery stalks, finely diced
4 leeks, white and pale green parts only, finely sliced
3 onions, finely diced
2 knobs garlic, cloves peeled and finely chopped
4 tbspn tomato paste
30g dried sliced porcini or shiitake**
1 cup white wine or verjuice
8 cups good vegetable or chicken stock
5-5.5 cups puy lentils
4 bay leaves
1 bunch thyme, leaves picked
1/2 bunch oregano, leaves picked and chopped
1 bunch fresh parsley, finely chopped
**Quantities suit a 9-tray Excalibur*
** We’re lucky enough to have porcini in our neck of the woods in South Australia, but you can use dried porcini or even shiitake for a similar umami flavour blast.

cooking in large pot — **Method**

Place dry porcini or shiitake in a small bowl and pour over boiling water to cover. Set aside.
In a large non-stick frypan, add a thin layer of water (not oil) and fresh mushrooms. Sprinkle with a few pinches of salt and braise mushrooms over medium-high heat, lifting and turning with a spatula, until they have given up their water, the pan is almost dry and the mushrooms are starting to shrivel. Add 1/2 tbspn of the oil and saute mushrooms until caramelised. Set aside.
In a large heavy-based pot add remaining oil plus onions and leeks. Stirring regularly, saute over medium-high heat until softened, translucent and just colouring at the edges, then add carrot, garlic and celery. Saute until vegetables begin to caramelise, then add tomato paste. Cook another few minutes, stirring well.
Add lentils and caramelised mushrooms, stirring well to coat, then add wine, porcinis and their soaking water, chicken or vegetable stock and all herbs except parsley. Season well with freshly ground black pepper and bring to the boil over medium-high heat.

Reduce heat and simmer until vegetables are tender and lentils are just softened and good to eat but not yet splitting or mushy. Stir regularly to prevent the braise catching. You may need to add a little more stock but avoid doing so if possible because any excess will only need to be dehydrated! If any oil rises to the surface, blot it away with a paper towel.

lentils and vegetables cooking in large pot

When cooked, season well with salt and more pepper to taste, remove bay leaves, mix in parsley, then tip your braise into a large colander set over the frypan you used for your mushrooms and allow to drain.

Don’t discard this juice - it is what will make your lentil braise rich and saucy rather than thin and watery.

liquid boiling in large flat bottom wide pan — Bring the juice in the frypan to a boil and reduce until thick enough to be spread on a silicone- or baking paper-lined dehydrator tray without running off the edges.

Spread thickened sauce onto a lined tray(s).

brown Liquid sauce on silicon sheet for dehydrating — Place one serve of lentils and vegetables in a bowl and weigh: this is your ONE SERVE WET WEIGHT A. Transfer this serve to a dehydrator tray and mark it with a teaspoon.

sauce and lentil and vegetable mix laid out on trays in dehydrator — Spread the rest of the drained lentil and veg mix onto dehydrator trays.

Dehydrate at 52C (125F) or, if you’ve used chicken stock, at 71C (160F), until completely dry. Partway through, stir veg and lentils to separate any clumps. Peel sauce from silicone and invert onto mesh to continue drying.

When dry, weigh your marked tray: this is ONE SERVE DRY WEIGHT B.

dehydrated lentil and vegetable mix — Place it plus all the other dry lentils and veg into a large bowl.

Break up the sauce into shards and powder in a spice grinder, then dry powder on a silicone lined tray for another ten minutes to condition. Place powder in a bowl.

Cheat’s Clever Hacks:

cook and dehydrate lentils, then mix with commercial dehydrated vegetables and soup powder
cook lentils with low fat tinned lentil vegetable soup and dehydrate together
dehydrate low fat tinned lentil soup (but be aware these meals are much lower in calories)
add TVP (dry textured vegetable protein) at packaging to increase calories and the protein:carb ratio as much as you want.

Packaging for Two:

Into each vac seal bag place

2 x B (ie two serves)
powder, distributed equally between bags

Vacuum seal. On the outside write date, and water (W) needed to rehydrate the two serves ie 2A - 2B = W+. You might need a little extra(+) for the powder.