Eat what you've Got (Mish-Mosh)

Not wanting to make another stop at the grocery, and quite dedicated to finishing the many foods that we brought along, but with a rather limited pantry, our first 14-mile hike through the redwood forests of California got my brain going. We had used up most of the fresh food we had available, but long walks make you hungry. the last 6 miles or so were filled with questions like 'hey, did we eat all of that onion the other night'. The result was this haphazard recipe, which K semi-affectionaltey dubbed 'Mish-mosh'. Looks like vomit, but tastes oh so good...

1 carton leftover white rice (from Thai Talay restaurant in Bandon, OR)
1/2c whole-wheat couscous
most of 1 packet dried shiitake mushrooms
1/2 leftover onion
1/2c or so of sliced-up baby-cut carrots, preferably with Sponge-Bob on the bag. These are better if you let them sit in the ice chest for a few days and periodically drain the water they've been soaking in (mmm...)
1 tbsp dried garlic pieces
1/4c crunchy peanut butter
1/4c toasted sesame oil
1/2 tbsp hot red pepper flakes
2 tbsp tamari
3/4 - 1c water
1/4c miso

mix the rice and dry couscous in a cookpot with a lid. Put the dry mushrooms in the water and boil to reconstitute (and make a nice broth). Dice up the leftover onion, add the carrot slices, garlic and chili flakes, and sautee in sesame oil until translucent. Add the peanut butter and tamari and stir to make a sauce. Take out the mushrooms and dice them up, adding them to the sauce. Pour the boiling mushroom water on the couscous/rice mixture and cover to let the couscous fluff. Add the sauce to this mixture, then add the miso, stir it up, and enjoy.

Not sure how useful this is to those looking to make something out of leftovers, as I think it unlikely that most travellers in the state parks of CA are hauling about toasted sesame oil and miso, but perhaps this says something about us. All I know is that it was mighty tasty, and provided a much-needed energy boost during the following day's hike as well.