Flavorful Vegetables at Your Fingertips
Everyone knows that vegetables are part of a healthy diet. They’re also crucial ingredients in many recipes—yet fresh vegetables aren’t always available when you need them.  Canned vegetables are mushy and bland, and frozen veggies get freezer-burned quickly. If you don’t garden, or you live in a climate with a short gardening season, or you don’t live right around the corner from a supermarket, you might have limited availability of the vegetables you need for the most basic meals.
Now there is a simple, practical and cost-effective way to have vegetables on hand at all times: dehydrated! You can store dehydrated carrots, bell peppers, tomatoes, onions, celery, spinach and potatoes in your pantry, ready for adding to soups and casseroles, stews, and most other recipes whenever you need them. They’re even delicious rehydrated and eaten on their own.
There are several advantages to dehydrated vegetables. They retain their color, so they look fresh and attractive, once they’re rehydrated. They have great nutritional value, and most importantly, they maintain their fresh flavor, longer than canned or frozen vegetables. The best part is they can be stored on a shelf until you’re ready to add them to your recipes. They only need to be kept in a dark, dry place.
To use dehydrated veggies, simply boil them for 2 minutes, and they resume their original plump state. Sprinkle on your favorite seasoning and enjoy them alone, or add them to recipes as you’d add fresh ingredients. Or, if you just pour the dried veggies into cooking soups and stews, they will absorb the broth or fluids of the recipe and the flavors meld as the dish cooks.
The best part of dehydrated vegetables is that they’re pre-cut. No more dicing and slicing! Now you can pour your desired amount of pre-chopped veggies right into your cooking foods, and instantly add all the color, flavor and texture of fresh vegetables, but without the work! Ounce for ounce, dehydrated vegetables are less expensive than fresh, store-bought produce…because there’s no waste, and because of the time saved in preparation. Once you’ve tried them, you’ll agree they’re certainly more convenient!
