“Nava and Yoella’s Great Hike – “Shvil Israel”

Dearest hungry fans,

I would like to take this opportunity to give thanks to the delicious and nutritious foods that have fueled our bodies to carry, jump, climb and dance our way through the trail.
I have been put to the challenge of making meals that are lightweight, cheap, mushable into a backpack, filling, mouthwatering…and vegan.

B’teavon!

Blenderless humus!

Cook red lentils and barley together until smooth. Mix with lemon, olive oil, tehini, salt, cumin, and garlic. Top with zatar, paprika, olive oil and roasted chickpeas.
Every Israeli needs to have humus, but we decided that it would be to hard to carry a blender on the trail. The trick here, is that red lentils get a smooth texture without having to blend them. The barley adds a fun chewy surprise in every bite and together they create a full protein. Mazel tov!

Crap in a Pot Granola

Take all the crap you got and put it in a flaming pot.
We got lots of free dried fruit and nut give-aways during Tu Bishvat, and this is what we did with them:
Roast an assortment of roasted chickpeas, walnuts, almonds, cashews, hazelnuts, peanuts, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, hemp seeds, chia seeds, flax seeds, cranberries, raisins, dates, apricots, and figs with salt, pepper, and cinnamon, on an open fire after glazing with olive oil. This delicious meal is roasted packed with protein, fats that we like, fibre and essential omega 3 fatty acids.” width=”300″ height=”225″ class=”size-medium wp-image-241″ />

Fire tortillas sombreros oh my!

Have a protein-packed fiesta on your next hike and invite all your vegan consuelos!

Just follow the directions (and look at the pictures step-by-step) below:

UNO
Make some yummy salsa using chopped tomatoes, onions, cilantro, onions, lemon, olive oil and salt.

DOS
Grill mushrooms with olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper.

TRES
Take Tofu and grill with onion, garlic, olive oil, oranges, apricot and your choice of spices.

 

 

 

 

 

 

CUATRO
Make red lentil and barley bean spread.

CINCO
Add Edamame!

Serve in an avacado-peel-bowl, which is a great option for when you are short on bowls.

SEIS
Include Guacamole made of avocado, onion, tomato, garlic, salt, pepper, lemon, paprika and mashy mashy time.

SIETE
Top with “grated cheddar cheese” (it’s really tofu!)

OCHO

Eat and enjoy!

Is that Nava, or a Mexican senorita enjoying her tortilla?

Meals made in a kitchen

We were given the keys to an empty home in Arad with a fully equipped kitchen. The only food items that were left were a bottle of balsamic vinegar and a bottle of walnut oil. Here is what we concocted
Ratatouille

Tomato sauce-
Garlic onion and tomato fried in walnut oil and balsamic vinegar
Placed on a bed of quinoa topped with grated tofu.

Chopped salad with a balsamic vinaigrette and a sweet tehini dressing.

Tehini dressing-
Tehini, orange juice, garlic, salt, pepper, turmeric, and cilantro
Vinaigrette- Walnut oil, balsamic vinegar, orange juice, garlic, salt and pepper

Back to the desert cuisine

So here is a common hiking dilemma.
What do you do when the food in your bag changes form due to intense pressure from packing?
We call this the “mush mush solution“…
You have to love the food no matter what smush, push, or mush it has gone through.
Here are some example of delicious mush mush recipes.

What do you do when you pack a loaf of bread and pull out a bag of soil?
Instead of eating your vegetables inside of a bread sandwich, eat your bread inside of a vegetable sandwich!
Yellow bell pepper stuffed with multigrain bread mush mush topped with an avocado slice, date tomatoes, a pinch of salt, drizzled with orange juice and pure tehini.

Mush Mushes

What do you do when your persimmon gets mushed into jelly?
Make persimmon mush mush jelly!
Mush a very ripe persimmon with orange juice, apricot, and cinnamon.
Spread it on your favorite bread and top it with some granola to add some crispy crunch.

Oy gevalt! My delicious multigrain crackers got all smash and mashed and crashed into pieces. I better throw it out.
No!
Make some cracker mush mush!
Cracker mush mush salad: multigrain cracker mush mush in a tehini pomelo marinade topped with finely chopped organic radish, succulent tomato, assorted seeds and sun dried cranberries.

What do you do when you are just really hungry and you have bread, granola, and roasted chickpeas?
Duh, make a mush mush!
Mix granola and roasted chickpeas with tehini, orange juice, salt, pepper, zatar and garlic powder.
Spread this power-spread on your favorite bread and top it with your favorite fruit or nuts.

Volcano delight

One day we were hiking through an ancient volcano. I was so inspired that I made my own dish.

Red quinoa mountain erupting with creamy peanut butter lava sprinkled with hot molten cranberries, dates, and figs. Hardened almond, peanut, and walnut rocks. You can climb a volcano and eat it for dinner too!

Fig in the fire

Don’t we all dream of roasting marshmallows on the fire and singing “Home on the Range”?

Why not try a more nutritious and delicious roast?
Have fun putting figs in the fire until the outside gets golden and crispy and the inside gets warm and runny.
If you are really daring, glaze it in pure tehini.
Try it with any of your favorite fruits of the land.