Dehydrated Food

Nothing in my house is safe – everything is going in the shiny new dehydrator that the postman recently left at our front door. While the kids played with the big empty box (the best part according to them - until they taste my dehydrated goodies) I washed and set up my new gadget before turning to my fridge and wondering where to start. The world of dehydrated food is huge and there are just so many options.

It is the end of my grocery week so I raided the fridge and found a few stalks of kale that were starting to look a little limp. Great – I washed and dried them (note to self - a salad spinner would be handy), ripped up the leaves and gently tossed them in a teeny tiny bit of oil and some rock salt. A few hours and quick taste tests later - Yum! My Miss 4 gobbled up a handful before they even made it into the container. Apparently you can add all sorts of flavours onto these as well – lemon zest, garlic and Parmesan, smoky paprika, soy sauce. Kale is high in fibre, antioxidants and heap of different vitamins – in short it’s good for you so I don’t feel bad sitting down for a munch on these.

Next I reached all the way into the back of the pantry and found a can of chickpeas. I rinsed them and patted them dry on some paper towel before tossing them with a teaspoon of curry powder and a teaspoon of cumin powder. In they go for a few hours and ta da – crunchy little morsels. I imagine you can flavour these with all sorts of spices, I might try garam masala next time. I’m also imagining lime and chilli and I don’t see why you couldn’t even do a sweet one. The possibilities are endless.

Right now I’m doing a heap of different fruits that are left over at the end of the week and I’m excited to see how they all turn out. Miss 4 is especially excited about the strawberries and I’m happy to save a bit of money by not buying the expensive bags of dried fruit at the supermarket anymore.

As I said, it is the end of the grocery week for me, so of course this weeks grocery list is all about what else we can dehydrate. I’m looking forward to making some stock powders, yoghurt, different fruits and veggies,fruit leathers, and maybe even some meat. Have you dabbled in dehydrating? Care to share your favourites?