More Recipe Testing – Chicken Pasta Salad – FBC

Is the 1/2 cup pasta the post-dried measurement or the pre-dried measurement?

Dicentra, thanks for the recipe- the pictures really help.

BTW do you dry your stuff in portions, i.e. 1/2 cup cooked pasta? or just measure out when you are done?
I would like anyone else to respond to this if they would like.

I generally dry my pasta and rice in bulk and then measure before I put it on the trays. I put 1.5 to 2 cups of product on each dehydrator tray. Then I divide into portions that would equal 1/2 cup rehydrated. I do it this way because different types/shapes dry differently and I like to have an idea of how much water I need to add back in. Hope that helps.

I cook and dry pasta a pound or so at a time. The recipe measurement is after cooking and dehydrating. For this pasta shape, there isn't too much difference.

I'm too lazy to pre measure… rehydrating is generally a 1:1 ratio.

Is all the rehydrating water absorbed? If not, what is a good LNT method for disposing excess water for rehydrating pasta? (I'm just starting to experiment with FBC and drying my own stuff–always used commercially-made before)

David…. that's why I pre-measure… then I don't have to deal with draining or suffer with something soupy. Plus it takes mere seconds to measure and write it on the bag or a sticky note.

Thanks Laurie. I'm guessing from your description above volume measure is plenty accurate, even with chunky pasta shapes? I've tried weighing before and after drying, then converting lost water weight to a cup measure for rehydrating, but maybe that's too obsessive?

With pasta I often weigh it after drying to get portions. Most of the time the dried weight is nearly the same as before you cooked it.

On average I take 4 ounces for me, more for the boy ;-) 1/2 cup dried pasta would vary though in how much pasta you got by shape.

As for soaking, as Teresa mentions a 1:1 ratio works well for pasta and rice (nearly everything actually, outside of stews/sauces/soups). If there is water left, just let it sit a little longer – or in the case of pasta salads? Just add in Parmesan cheese and let it soak up the liquid! Tasty as well!

Yes. All of the water was absorbed.

And ditto everything Sarah said above ^^^^ Or just drink the water. It won't kill ya! ;)

I have turned soaking water into a soup even. It was quite good….

or you could take the moment to use the right amount of water thus keeping the nutrition and flavor in the food. If I want soup – I make soup… lol.

David, the weight method works for some things but not all. I hate doing the math so the sticky note works so much better for me. I'm creative not mathematical… lol. I also start with a smidgen less water than I have on the sticky note and add the remainder as rehydration takes place – if it needs it. That way I never have too much water, soupy food or water that I have to drink.

1:1 ratio of water/dried food to rehydrate… 1/2 cup water plus a bit for the other ingredients. Not more than 3/4 cup.

OTOH… one of the beautiful things about FBC is that you don't have to measure too much. Just add water to cover (see photo above).

And as Teresa knows from our many trips together, I often turn my dinners into soups if it was a long, dry day. Gets me hydrated easier and encourages my appetite at altitude. Hence, having flexible meals rocks big time.

After walking 15 miles and setting up camp, I don't care much if my food is a tad watery. It just has to taste good.

Speaking of desk jobs, I just ate this at my desk where I test drive the fbc recipes. I didn't have the artichoke hearts, but I had everything else, and it is excellent. I used the freeze-dried chicken from PackitGourmet and half a package of ramen noodles. This will definitely be in my pack on the next trip. These salads that don't need hot water are great for dinners, too. When we were out for a few days recently in hotter-than-usual weather a hot dinner was not appealing.

Measure the water? Why the hell would I do that? Carrying measuring devices adds too much weight to my pack… Guestimates and covering the meal has always worked for me, my FBC meals still turn out great. If and when I add too much you drink the tasty flavored water… Dry in bulk, and assemble later, or maybe that's cause I hike too much and don't like portioning before I dry…

Hmmm… a name… hmmm…

Lemon 'heart Salad?

Kathleen, I keep wishing that PIG will find freeze dried artichokes, Cause then life would be perfect :-D

Ooh, Did I tell you I bought out Fred Meyer's stock locally of the now discontinued baked ramen? That stuff is fabu in salads!

Sarah – I'd settle for dehydrated, rather than freeze-dried, artichokes! I've got to figure out a way to get out ahead of you. The baked ramen is all bought up, apparently, before I've even had a chance to try it, and I've got my daughter in Oregon looking for pint freezerbags. Sigh.

As for the discussion about adding water, I'm in the not-measuring group. With practice, I can guess fairly closely on how much to pour into the fb's, and if it's runny, then that's how I wanted it after all.

Kathleen, well if you want any of the ramen…er, um, I have like 100 packs of it. Hehheh. I would not mind sharing some! I love that stuff and was sooooo mad when they quit making it!

PS: Tell you daughter to go to Wal-Mart. They carry the Pint size, but hide them.