Jump to the recipe for Chimichurri Sauce And Dip…
I have mentioned a few times that this past year (even before the pandemic hit) my goal was to go back and rehike some of the trips I did before the start of Must Hike Must Eat but for which I created a few pages back when I was trying to fill the website with content. Now that I am up to 577 posts and 353 pages, it was time to go back to some of the first ones and bring them up to snuff.
One such hike was Dirty Face Peak and Lookout which I originally hiked in April of 2016 with my favorite Meetup group. I was not running tracks back then and relying on others for trail data. By revisiting old trails with fresh, more experienced eyes, I am able to update with more accurate details. Sometimes it is like hiking a whole new trail!
One of the things I am enjoying by hiking a trail again is to be exposed to what the trail has to offer in a different season or with the knowledge I have gained from trail work or by taking courses in map reading. For example, I thought we were actually at the peak on my first trip but it was really just the lookout. And Dirty Face really has 3 summits!
How about you? Do you prefer to hike new trails or do you take pleasure in rehiking trails and seeing them in new ways each time?
#parsley #cilantro #oregano #garlic #redonion #lemonjuice #oliveoil #seasalt
I have been wanting to do some kind of flavorful sauce that is also full of green and would be good with chips or veggies on the trail for awhile now. I have talked about taking pesto in a container ready made and that works great for overnight trips and day hikes. But I wanted something a little different to dehydrate.
Yes, this Chimichurri sauce and dip is in a glass jar as I was taking this on my Dirty Face day hike and didn’t mind the training weight. It was completely worth it when I got to the lookout site and we stopped for a snack, the punch of flavor brought out by the herbs, garlic and onion even surprised me! Not only that, all that green is packed with vitamins A, C and K, along with a little potassium and iron. The oregano tosses in calcium and magnesium, too!
The great thing is that Chimichurri sauce and dip is super easy to make, dehydrates well and all you have to do is add a little water and olive oil on the trail. I have had it with chips and crackers but you could make a meal with the pasta of your choice or a mix of vegetables.
Your first step is to make a mash in the food processer with the parsley and cilantro. When you squeeze the lemons for juice, make sure to include all the pulpy goodness! The lemon juice as the liquid helps to break things down more readily in the food processor.
Yes, this recipe calls for 4 cloves of garlic, flavor is your friend on the trail when it comes to food being appetizing. Nothing is worse than getting to camp and finding you don’t have an appetite for the bland food you brought! If garlic (or onions) are not your friend (they are a high fodmap food), I can suggest using chives or asafoetida (a spice) as a substitute.
You will end up with about 1 cup of mash which lays out nicely on one jelly roll tray in the dehydrator. I dry it on the fruit/veggie setting, about 135 degrees for about 10 hours until it is nice and brittle.
Into the spice grinder it goes which will become about 1/2 cup of powder. Then I add some of the dried red onion.
To rehydrate, I just cover with water (cold or hot works), let it sit a few minutes and then stir in a packet of olive oil. You don’t need a lot with all that flavor!
On my latest backpacking trip, I used a Rubbermaid container but you could also just mix the sauce in a snack ziploc or other small container.
What do you think? Are you ready for some flavor power on the trail? Give this sauce a try and let me know what you think!
Chimichurri Sauce and Dip (AIP, Nightshade Free and Paleo)
Add this sauce and dip to your hiking and backpacking snack or meal rotation and discover a burst of flavor in the outdoors.
Prep Time
10 minutes
Dehydration Time
10 hours
Total Time
10 hours, 10 minutes
Course: Dinner, Snack
Cuisine: Gluten Free, Keto, Nightshade Free, Nut free, Paleo, Vegan, Whole Food
Servings: 6 servings
Ingredients
- 1 bunch parsley
- 1 bunch cilantro
- 1/4 cup fresh oregano sprigs
- 1/2 lemon juiced
- 1/4 cup diced red onion (if not using dehydrated)
- 4 cloves garlic
- olive oil
- 2 tbsp dehydrated red onion (if not using fresh)
- sea salt (optional)
Instructions
- Cut the cilantro and parsley bunches at the stems and rinse in a colander. Remove any large stems. Shake dry but do not pat. Remove the stems from the oregano sprigs.
- In the food processor, add the first 5 ingredients and pulse until minced well into a mash. Do not worry about stems as you will be dehydrating and they will break easily when brittle. If using fresh red onion, include this in the mash.
- Layer out on a liner in the dehydrator and dry on the fruit/vegetable setting (125-135 degrees) until brittle.
- Once dry completely, pulse in a spice grinder until a powder. Add 2 tablespoons of dried red onion (if you didn’t add fresh to the mash).
- For the trail: add 1 tablespoon of dry powder mix to a small container or ziploc baggie and sprinkle with sea salt if desired. If making a meal, add pasta or dried vegetables to a separate container.
- On the trail: add 1 tablespoon of water and let rehydrate. Mix with an olive oil packet to make a paste or sauce and enjoy with chips or carrot sticks. If making a meal, rehydrate your pasta/veggies and then add the sauce and mix together.
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