VeggieSue wrote:Winter is coming.
You mentioned in older posts that you've been experimenting with using dehydrated/freeze dried vegetables. How's that been working out?
With winter fast approaching and the memories of the past few winters (and their multiple blizzards that each left another 2-3 feet of snow behind) not that far in the past, I'd like to start getting ready for it now. When snowed in for weeks at a time, I run out of frozen veggies in my apartment freezer within a week to 10 days. Last winter, freeze-dried soup vegetables and bags of dried beans really worked out great to provide some meals, but it's hard to make an enjoyable SNAP dinner using canned vegetables.
Have you successfully been able to modify some of your SNAP recipes to use these dried vegetables instead of frozen? Any specific hints to follow, such as which veggies are good dried and which should be avoided? Can an entire SNAP recipe be done using dried veg or should they just substitute for some of the frozen veggies? Have you developed any recipes that use *only* these dried veg?
Besides Harmony House, any other favorite places to order from?
Thanks for any hints or advice. I'm really a klutz in the kitchen and need all the help I can get.
Good question.
It depends on how you look at it.
I especially liked the starches (potatoes, sweet potatoes, butternut squash, etc), Legumes (Beans, lentils, split peas) and some of the veggies (mixed vegetables, kale, cabbage, mushrooms, carrots, tomatoes)
Most of these dried vegetables worked great though you had to work with them and the recipe to get it right.
For example, I could take 3 cups of dried split peas, 2 cups dried sweet potatoes and 1 cup dried carrots, but them in a large soup pot, fill with water, bring to a boil, and then simmer for like 20 minutes and have an incredible soup.
The beans, lentils and peas also made great hummus, dips and dressings. I cup legumes, 1-2 cups water, 1/2 cup mixed veggies in a saucepan, bring to a boil and simmer till thick and you have a great dish that could be either a hummus, a dip or a dressing, depending on how thin/thick you left it
Take some of the above bean dip mix with rolled oats and sweet potato and you can make it into burgers.
Main dishes did not come out as well as while these foods rehydrate, then never fully rehydrate.
This was a problem. Since the foods never fully rehydrate, they end up being about 1.5-2x as calorie dense (based on my estimate as I have not done the exact math, and not as satiating per calorie. So, for anyone closely applying the principles of calorie density, they may find if these foods/dishes make up a large part of their diet, they may gain weight. On the other hand, for those looking to put on weight (or struggling to keep weight on) and looking to do it with really healthy lower fat foods, these foods would be excellent
Usually, the more calorie dense foods are either high fat or more processed, these are only dried and partially dehydrated.
My two favorite companies are Harmony House and North Bay Trading. There are somethings I much prefer from Harmony House and some from North Bay.
So, in the end, we still use them but more as additions.
I still love the beans, peas, lentils as above. I like the veggies to add to dishes but not be a main part of them, (like dried tomatoes in my marinara sauce or dried cabbage or kale in my longevity soup). My wife likes to make dishes out of the potatoes, squash, lentils and veggies. Quick, easy, flavorful and she could always use a few extra calories. To me, they are not satiating enough, per calorie, when compared to if it was made from fresh or frozen.
In Health
Jeff
