Trail Food: Red Beans & Rice Soup

A recent trip to our local Whole Foods market netted us some possible candidates for tasty, satisfying trail food. One product was Nile Spice brand Red Beans & Rice Soup. This "just add water" dry soup mix comes in a cup and weighs 1.8 oz. A single serving is about 170 calories, its low fat - just what long distance hikers don't need!

So, at the office, we added the recommended amount of hot water and let it stand the full 5 minutes. After the alloted time, we dug in. The rice was a bit crunchy and not softened. The beans were softer than anticipated. There was good flavor, but a bit mild. We added some red chili flakes from our office larder. The amount of rice and beans was a bit disappointing, but the cup does say "soup" after all. Seems a few of the reviewers on Amazon agree.

We think this product is worth a second shot. We plan to add the soup mix to a cup of minute rice along with some chili flakes. We'll add one cup of water per the minute rice instructions and see if the soup mix doesn't make for a heartier and higher calorie Red Beans and Rice entree. We may also slice a small pepperoni stick into the thicker rice. Small dried shrimp from the local asian market might also be a nice addition.