For those of you who live in areas where you can camp year-round – or those of you intrepid enough to dig snow caves and hunker down, this squash soup makes a rich seasonal meal that’s spicy enough to heat you from the inside. The topping of crispy lamb with cumin and sunflower seeds adds a taste sensation bold as a winter camper.

Soup “bark” is dehydrated pureed soup. The liquid is poured on solid trays then dehydrated until crisp (see dehydrating your own backpacking meals). It often tastes good as a cracker or chip, too. Package in a zip-style baggie and rehydrate in hot water.

Remember: Save a bowl with lamb crisps for your dinner! Add a sprig of cilantro.

At Home

Ingredients (2 servings)

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 shallots, minced
• 4 cups vegetable broth
• 2 cups diced winter squash (such as pumpkin, butternut, or acorn)
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 cups collard greens, thinly sliced and cut in half
• I chopped small red chili pepper
• 4 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon red pepper chili oil (to taste)
• black pepper and chilipowder to taste
• 1/2 lb organic lamb steak, sliced very thin
• 3 tablespoons whole cumin seed
• 3 tablespoons sunflower seeds
• chili powder to taste
• 1 cup apple cider vinegar
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce or tamari

Instructions

In a soup pot, heat 1 olive oil, shallots, garlic, and squash on medium high. Sauté for 5 minutes. Add broth, soy sauce, and chili oil. Cover and simmer on medium heat for 10 minutes. Add the collard greens, chopped chili, cover, and continue to simmer until all ingredients are soft. Puree the soup. Adjust seasoning to taste.

Pour puree onto solid dehydrator trays and dehydrate until it becomes crispy. Break “bark” into pieces and package in a zip-style baggie. Label.

Freeze the lamb steaks until they are slightly firm. With a sharp knife cut very thin 1/8” x 1” x 1” pieces.

Toast cumin, sunflower seeds, chili in a frying pan with 1 tbs. soy sauce.

In a shallow dish combine apple cider vinegar, coconut oil, and 2 tbs. soy sauce. Grind ½ the toasted cumin, sunflower, chili mixture together (I use a coffee grinder) then add to the marinade. Add the lamb slices and refrigerate for at least one hour or overnight. Discard the marinade, place the lamb on a cookie tray and cook in a pre-heated 325-degree oven for five minutes.

Dehydrate the lamb until it is very crispy, like chips. Package the lamb crisps and the remaining toasted cumin, sunflower seed, chili mix in a zip-style baggie. Label.

In Camp

Rehydrate the squash soup bark with 3 cups of water. Heat and serve with a generous sprinkling of lamb-cumin crisps on top. Add a sprig of dandelion greens or wild onion for color!

This goes well with a cranberry chutney. Find out how to make chutney roll-ups and other ultra nutritious and delicious backpacking meals in Backpackers' Ultra Food.

Editor's Note: This recipe originally appeared in Issue 12 of TrailGroove Magazine. You can read the original article here.