It’s pretty easy to get into a rut with your backcountry food: rice, pasta, rice, pasta, repeat. But if you want to mix things up a bit, sometimes it’s just a matter of exploring a new grain like quinoa. This quinoa salad is perhaps a little more complicated than you might want for an expedition meal, but for a weekender it’s perfect!

Profile
Serves: 2 people
Weight: 1200g
Volume: 1.0 L
Calories: 1,300
Cost: $15.5
Cooking time: 20 min
Fuel: 175ml white spirit, or 60g camping gas*

*Based on an MSR Whisperlite burning white spirit at sea level.

Ingredients
Mixed Quinoa – 1 cup
Broccoli – 1 head, chopped.
Smoked chicken breast – 2, sliced
Ground coriander – 1 heaped teaspoon
Olive oil – 3 tbsp
Spring onions – 2
Fresh mint – 2 tbsp
Red wine vinegar – 3 tbsp
Pumpkin seeds – 3 tbsp
Button mushrooms – 4 sliced*
Greek yogurt – 4 tbsp
Harissa paste – 4 tsp
Zest of one lemon

Method
Cook the quinoa as per the instructions, then drain and set aside. Likewise for the broccoli. Sauté the mushrooms in a small amount of olive oil.
Mix the quinoa in a bowl along with the mushrooms, mint, lemon zest, coriander and spring onions. Drizzle with olive oil and red wine vinegar. Top with the smoked chicken and broccoli, add a few good dollops of yogurt and harissa paste and serve.

*If you’d like to save a bit of time and weight you can substitute dried mushrooms and just soak them for 10 minutes beforehand.