Black Bean Dip
Food
Recipe
While black beans have been around in their dried form tinned beans have only been readily available for a short time in the major supermarkets in Australia. This dip has very quickly become one of my favourite meal time recipes for lunch on the trail and it provides an exceptional source of lightweight calories when hiking. Like hummus I’m pretty traditional in how I eat my dips so use flat bread. If I’m really lazy I will just eat it with a spoon straight. This recipe can be made in bulk and stored until needed.
Serves: 2
Approximate serving (dry weight): 83 grams
Approximate calories/serving: 636 calories
Ingredients
800grams Tinned Black Beans (2 X 400 gram tins drained and and rinsed)
1/4 cup Lime juice (you may need more than this if the mixture is too dry to blend properly)
3 teaspoons Minced garlic (add more or less depending on your taste. Its a good idea to have your tent mate eat this as well to reduce complains about garlic breath!)
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1 1/2 teaspoons Cumin
1/8 teaspoon Chilli powder
1/2 tablespoon Olive Oil (use this when mixing the dip)
1 tablespoon Olive Oil (use when rehydrating )
Preparation Instructions
- Add all the ingredients to a food processor
- Blend until the mixture is smooth adding lime juice in small amounts as you go
- Spread onto a solid plastic sheet that comes with your food dehydrator. Make sure the mix is even to minimise the drying time
- Dry on a medium heat (55 degrees celsius if you are using and oven) for approximately 7-9 hours. Cut through the wet mix a few hours in to the drying period to allow the warm air to get right into the mix
- Once the mixture is relatively solid and dry put into a mixing bowl and squash all the lumps until you are left with mix that resembles fine biscuit crumbs
- Put back into the dehydrator for a further hour to remove the last of the moisture
- Going with a mortar or blend again to breakdown the large lumps
- Store in an airtight container until needed. To use split into the desired meal size (approximately 83 grams of dry mix with with this recipe providing 2 serves). This recipe will provide 2 meals for the average person. I have stored the dehydrated mix for 8 weeks and not had any problem with the mixture going off so long as the mixture was fully dry and the container is well sealed
- Rehydrate and serve with flatbread
To rehydrate
- Add the dry mix to a container e.g. peanut butter jar
- Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and mix well through the dried hummus mixture. The olive oil provides that rich texture and also adds calories
- Slowly add small amounts of water until you reach the desired consistency (approximately 1/3+ cup water). While most ultralight meals will often require water at almost a 1:1 ratio this recipe is an exception requiring very little water to bring it back to life compared the amount of dried mix
- The dip is ready to eat as soon as you have added the oil and water
- Eat straight or add to flat bread, corn chips or dry biscuits
Tinned Black Beans straight from the supermarket
Black Bean dip mixed in food processor ready to dry. Ignore the appearance it tastes great
After a couple of hours use a spoon to cut into the semi dry mix to break it up and allow extra air movement
Place into a bowl and grind the large lumps out with a pestle. Alternatively place back into a dry food processor to crush the last of the lumps
Store in an airtight container until ready to use. I have kept this mix for 8 weeks without any problems provided the mix is fully dry and you use a good container
Place into a container then add the oil and water. Add water slowly as there can be a fine line between just right and to wet. It doesn’t look great but it tastes great
Serve on flat bread, corn chips or dry biscuits or eat straight with a spoon. The mixture is easy to eat as soon as you have added the oil and water