Vegan/Gluten Free Expedition Meal Planning

To the original poster, how did it go last May on Denali?

My Denali trip with friends (30 years ago, wow) went well -- except for some of the shared dinners, which are indeed important for camaraderie.

Fortunately, at that time, we each already had plenty of experience on 1-2 week trips, and high altitude, which should be true for anyone heading for Denali.

So, we knew our own preferred 'just add hot water' breakfasts, and 'after-dinner treats'.  Plus, we had about half our calories on our own during the day: crackers, cheese, cookies, candy -- plus things whose names don't start with 'c'.  All of these can be completely individual -- and then sharing and swapping can add extra variety.  (Even one's favorite cookies can be tiring after a couple of pounds of them.)

And yes, getting good dinners that all can enjoy is wonderful -- we had a couple of serious duds, including the night before summitting, though everyone made it.

-Peter

Vegan here. I appreciate your consideration for your team member!

When I've done hard trips, my foundation is a meal replacement shake like Huel or Soylent, plus nuts, dried fruit, dried chickpea snacks, vegan macaroons, etc. If I were advising your expedition member, I'd recommend that she bring enough calories of this stuff to see her through anything, plus multi-vitamins, and let the group dinners pretty much be a nice bonus. That way she'll get enough nutrition no matter what and no one on the trip will be worried about her. She may already be planning something like that.

Don't worry about "complete proteins". The evening meal should have protein, fat, and bulk, but human bodies will mingle amino acids from different sources throughout the day. If she's getting good nutrition in general, she'll be fine.

I don't have recipes for group cooking in the backcountry, but here are some that may provide inspiration if you're experimenting:

1. Cinnamon "chicken" https://www.runnersworld.com/nutrition-weight-loss/a20848544/a-cinnamon-chicken-recipe/   I'd try this with TVP and rice instead of chicken, sundried tomato paste from a tube, veggie broth cube instead of wine, and onion flakes instead of onions.

2. Red lentil curry  https://minimalistbaker.com/spicy-red-lentil-curry/  Substitute shelf-stable creamed coconut ( target.com/p/let-s-do-organ…), tomato paste from a tube, veggie broth cube, garlic and ginger powder, add dehydrated veggies, etc.

3. African chickpea stew  https://www.diannesvegankitchen.com/african-inspired-chickpea-peanut-stew/  I'd experiment with dehydrated chickpeas, rice or quinoa, and a spice blend inspired by this recipe. It's shockingly delicious, and you'll get more use out of your tomato paste tube and coconut cream. The peanut butter and spice blend give it a different twist.

4. Yellow split peas  https://www.veganricha.com/2013/02/ethiopian-split-pea-stew-kik-alicha.html  Add rice if you want heartier.

5. Spanish rice and chickpeas  https://www.thekitchenmagpie.com/smoky-spanish-rice-chickpeas/  Another nice variation you can make with rice, dehydrated chickpeas and veg, and tomato paste in a tube. The smoked paprika has a distinctly different flavor.

6. Pesto quinoa  https://veggiechick.com/basil-pesto-quinoa/  sub vegan pesto in a tube. The dehydrated nutritional yeast adds both a cheesy flavor and protein. Not sure what to do about the lemon juice - either skip it or maybe use a little citric acid crystals or dried tamarind paste or powder if you have it. Tamarind paste + sugar also makes a very nice lemonade-like refreshing beverage if you're into that sort of thing.

7. Black bean and tvp chili https://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=1708412 substitute veggie broth, add dehydrated corn and other veg, add some Tajin if you want to get fancy. 

Tomato paste in a tube: https://www.amazon.com/Amore-Natural-Sun-Dried-Tomato-Paste/dp/B0001H22B2?th=1
Vegan pesto in a tube: https://www.amazon.com/Amore-Natural-Pesto-Paste-Ounce/dp/B0005XPC0A?th=
Creamed shelf-stable coconut (replaces coconut milk): https://www.target.com/p/let-s-do-organic-174-creamed-coconut-7oz/-/A-50545042
Best broth cubes are Rapunzel or "Not Chicken" https://www.amazon.com/Rapunzel-Vegetable-Bouillon-Herbs-Count/dp/B001E5DZJ8

Daniel Melnyk wrote: How about being a real adult and realize that being vegan and gluten free is a privilege of living in a first world country
Eat normal food like the rest of us

I love being privileged and living in a first world country. Someone has to do it :)

Really don't see your point.

As a glutard, I will say that I’ve also been quite sensitive to certain beans, lentils especially. Causes me to piss out my ass. I don’t think barley is even an option. I get livid with people that do limited diets not out of necessity. There are plenty of backpacking freeze dried meals out there already though.

Precooked tempeh, it packs a lot of calories into a smallish package. I steam mine in a smoked paprika, liquid smoke, maple syrup, crushed red pepper, black pepper, vegetable stock. It works as a sandwich, wrap, over rice or quinoa 

It appears Daniel removed his post that people above are quoting as saying:
"How about being a real adult and realize that being vegan and gluten free is a privilege of living in a first world country
Eat normal food like the rest of us"

But I feel compelled to say since no one else has:
That being vegan is a privilege of first world country is a completely untrue, biased opinion. Many poor communities eat a predominantly vegetarian diet.

It's only the more affluent that eat a lot of meat.

I will grant that vegans have a reputation of being holier-than-thou and pretentious (and many can be,  just the same as paleo, keto, etc. dieters); but pretending that vegetarianism/veganism is in itself elitist and privileged is completely false. Eating the amount of meat western societies and especially the USA most definitely is though.

alpinejoe wrote: It appears Daniel removed his post that people above are quoting as saying:
"How about being a real adult and realize that being vegan and gluten free is a privilege of living in a first world country
Eat normal food like the rest of us"

But I feel compelled to say since no one else has:
That being vegan is a privilege of first world country is a completely untrue, biased opinion. Many poor communities eat a predominantly vegetarian diet.

It's only the more affluent that eat a lot of meat.

I will grant that vegans have a reputation of being holier-than-thou and pretentious (and many can be,  just the same as paleo, keto, etc. dieters); but pretending that vegetarianism/veganism is in itself elitist and privileged is completely false. Eating the amount of meat western societies and especially the USA most definitely is though.

To point out the obvious, there’s a difference between dietary restrictions (celiac, lactose intolerance, diabetes, allergies), availability of food in a region, and choosing to limit your diet. 

To point out the obvious, global warming is expensive for us all—availability of a choice is irrelevant to its value.

But discussions of ethics and spread are both out of scope of the original inquiry in this thread, and frankly, kinda boring and cliche!

So back to basics: 3 Brazil nuts are 60 calories, and a tablespoon of coconut oil is 90. If you’re running short on calories, both are stellar! 

Hey folks,

I never responded to this because shortly after I posted it I learned that that team member was just trolling me, as good team members do! We wound up bringing a pound of bacon per person and no vegan meals. Fun trip for me, and I was lucky enough to tag summit.

However, I now date a vegetarian through-hiker. Here's a recent recipe which turned out fantastically. She recommends Harmony House and/or North Bay Trading Co for bulk dehydrated vegetables.

Vegan Paella

• Recipe below is for 2 people at Denali-level caloric intake (990cal per person), could be 3 servings for a regular hike. If you're training for a big mountain, practice eating 1000 calories in a meal! That takes training too!
• I still shoot for 4 cal/g on expeditions but this was for an easier trip. We brought some of this to mix in, but if you're trying to pack in calories I'd recommend adding coconut/olive oil and tomato powder instead. Toasted almonds were a great garnish.
• Price ($9.64 per 1000 cal) and energy density (3.4 cal/g) is comparable or better than retail but could be optimized. That price list is buying each product individually from Amazon.
• RightRice cooks up in a hurry and tastes great. This took 7-10 minutes to rehydrate at an elevation of 1000m.

Edit: MP can't handle tables, recipe is attached as an image. The recipe sums to $19.00, 577g, 1983 calories and 3.4 cal/g