Wilderness Rice Bowl

 

Meal type: Lunch or Dinner, dairy-free, gluten-free

Serves: 3

Calories: 340 per serving

Recommended trip type: Camping and/or day hike

Gear: a skillet or pot, with lid (heat safe), grill (or fire), a spatula, serving bowls, and mushroom foraging skills as needed.

 

One with the Forest (my strange poem): I wake in the mountains and explore in the morning. The air is biting, but it enlightens my cheeks like roses.

After munching on a bit of breakfast, I dilly dally with my smiles towards the rocks, an endless blue sky, and at the trickling streams nearby, as the sun soars across the sky. At high noon, 

I gasp, as my gaze meets a Remarkable Mushroom! The world around me is bathed in pale daylight, and I wend my way to the family of Boletes. I remember, “Oh, these are edible!”

As they smile to me, granting permission of the forest, I am confident.

Ah yes, there is simply nothing like speaking to nature in understood language.

 

Ingredients:

• 3 large wild Porcini (Bolete) mushrooms, or more per preference and availability.

• 3 TBS oil of choice

• 3 cups instant rice

• 1 handful per person of wild greens (Works best with dandelion!). optional

• Tamari packets, to taste

• 1 Bone broth packet per person, optional but recommended for protein

• Garlic powder, to taste

• Pepper, to taste (optional)

 

Steps:

1. Forage, clean, and prepare your wild ingredients (greens and mushrooms). 

   1. For wild/fresh mushrooms, clean dirt off with a wire brush- or water if you’ll use them immediately. Slice them into your desired shape and size, I prefer strips. 

   2. For the wild greens, wash them with clean water and let dry in sunlight or pat dry with a towel. Chop them into small pieces as desired.

   3. See Storage and substitutions for non-wild ingredients.

2. Heat oil in the skillet/pot. 

3. Cook mushrooms until caramel colored. 

4. Add in greens and cook until softened, about 1-2 minutes.

5. Add rice and stir in water according to the package instructions. Add bone broth packets if using. 

6. Add tamari, pepper, and garlic powder into the mixture and stir. 

7. Cover until rice is cooked (about 1-2 minutes, or as per instant rice box instructions).

8. Serve & enjoy promptly.

 

Nutritional information:

Total calories: 1,020 (340 per serving)

• Rice: 510 (carbohydrates, proteins)

• Oil: 360 

• Mushrooms: 150 (36% protein, 64% carbohydrates)

• Greens: unknown, fiber forward

 

DISCLAIMER FOR FORAGING:

 

Wild Bolete (Porcini) are generally easy to identify in the Southwest Colorado region, but that doesn’t mean you can slack on caution. It is imperative to be sure that you are 100% confident in your foraging and identifying abilities. Mushroom foraging can be extremely dangerous and even deadly as many mushrooms are poisonous or toxic. It is important to be completely certain of what you find before touching them with unprotected hands as well. 

Additionally the same warning goes for foraging wild greens.

If you are not experienced or confident, have someone who is seasoned and tested verify the facts for you. 

 

Storage and substitutions:

 

Most of these ingredients are dry and/or foraged wild, so coolers are not taken into consideration. If you use store bought ingredients, you will need a cooler and to use the mushrooms immediately, as they don’t like humidity. Store-bought lettuce or greens won’t last long either.

 

This meal should be eaten immediately after being prepared and should not be stored for long periods of time.

 

If you are not comfortable with your foraging abilities, or want to avoid the multiple variables such as availability, I recommend you bring store-bought, dried mushrooms of choice. Dried mushrooms are nice because they are light and easy to carry! They will be rehydrated in the rice water. 

 

You can also substitute the wild greens for onions, store bought lettuce, green onions, or chives. Also, if you prefer more of a wrap than a bowl, you could use large greens to make lettuce wraps!

 

It would also be tasty to add some crumbled goat cheese on top! In which case you would need a cooler.

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