Afghanistan-friendly recipes?

I was hoping that the you all might help me out with a request I received from one of my friends. He's a marine currently based in Afghanistan. He's getting kind of bored with military-issued ready-to-eat meals and asked me if I could think of anything he could make on his own with a specific set of restrictions:

"I have practically no ingredients, no tools, no utensils, but I’m getting tired of MREs. So very very tired. So. I’m prepared to buy a crock pot and or a Dutch oven or something and I was hoping you could come up with some suggestions for things I can make. I have no refrigeration and the vast majority of ingredients are going to have to be mailed to me from home or I’ll have to buy from Amazon or some other place. Transportation takes over a month and is subject to some fairly high temperatures so stuff that melts isn’t very useful by the time it makes it to me."

Any ideas?

He can make chickpea curry in a small crockpot, using canned chickpeas and tomatoes, and spices (garam masala, cumin, turmeric, coriander, and powdered ginger).

Send him a homemade split pea soup mix, using dried split peas, dried onion, dried celery, dried parsley, bouillon, and bay leaf in a jar. Bacon bits for sprinkling on top.

Crockpot mushroom risotto, with arborio rice, dried porcini mushrooms, canned broth, and dried herbs. Romano cheese powder from the Spice House is a nice addition.

Not to toot my own horn, but the Food Desert thread contains many dishes that would also apply in a non-metaphorical desert, I think.

Specifically, I think all these are made entirely with canned or dry ingredients: Moros Y Cristianos, Linguine with Clam Sauce, Clams Giardinera, Koshary, and Thai Fish Curry; IDK if they'll allow wine, though - he might sub lemon juice, even canned is better than nothing. Also, the Faux Salade Nicoise should work but doesn't require any cooking at all, and LAZ linked to several recipes offthread that might work: rice pilaf and bannocks, specifically (they're all in the same thread, if you want me to link each post, send me a PM and I'll edit them in)

Had a couple of ideas. I'm not very familiar with the conditions over there so they might not necessarily be good ideas.

1) If he likes fresh bread, a bread machine might useful. I'm sure there are plenty of used machines floating around. Most of the bread machine recipes will call for dry ingredients other than water and fat (if added), since they are written with a timer in mind.
2) I made some oatmeal overnight in a crockpot this weekend. So you can use a crock for breakfast as well.
3) If he likes rice, you could look into rice cookers. Then he could do a mixed beans and rice type of thing. I know people do more with rice cookers than just cook rice but i don't have one myself.
4) He could use a plug in hot water heater for soup mixes, hot drinks, instant oatmeal, etc. (He's probably sick of salty meals so soup mixes might not be too appealing.)

All the best to your friend and I hope he comes home safely.

It may seem redundant, but variety alone may be enough.

http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0geuszHkodKg ... house.com/


With it, think about sending some cookware like a surplus Swedish Mess Kit. An alcohol burner is part of that. You can find the Swedish civilian version made by Optimus. The MH food I've eaten has been pretty good considering and I bet it would be damn excellent over there after months of MRE's.

Another idea is pick up a traditional regional cookbook, see what is involved in making the dishes, send the appropriate cookwear whick I assume may be simple and let the marine source ingredients there. That may not be as feasable if he's on the move a lot. Unless he sidelines goat herding or something.

Either way best of luck to your friend.


P.S. Trangia is another Swedish camping stove company that has the alcohol stove.

Here's a few random ideas for some shelf-stable stuff. Velveeta (don't laugh! esp. the Mexican might be useful.) Any and all dried salamis. Virginia ham. Any kind of dried legume. Dried mushrooms. Nuts. Popcorn. Dried fish. Dried fruit.

Etc.

A slow cooker would be really useful.

In my Army, we ate C-rations. MREs are marginally better. But after a few months, it's ALL bad...

Best of luck to him and his buddies!

Geo

The pressure cooker is just about my favorite piece of kitchen equipment. All you need to make anything you put in it delicious is fat inside and fire outside. It can also stand in as a regular pot for boiling water or used as a frying pan and it's a lot more sturdy and lighter than slow cookers with glass or plastic parts. It's a common staple of kitchens everywhere from China to Eastern Europe, particularily India, so maybe he could even find one in Afghanistan and save on shipping. It'd be great if he can order some butter ghee, or stock up on things like that if he has any time in towns or cities; a lot of items that seem scary to Americans are really close to our own standard items, but better suited for the local climate. Pressure cookers are great for Southern food as well as Chinese and Indian dishes. Best wishes to him and everyone else there.