Dehydrating Celery

Just like dry carrots, dry celery is nice to have on hand and it's easy to dehydrate.

Wash, trim celery stalks.
Split stalks length-wise, about 1/4 inch thick,
or up to 1/2 inch thick.
Then cut across to dice into small cubes.
If you want to include the leaves, leave them whole for drying.

Spread diced celery in your dehydrator on solid drying sheets,
or line drying trays with parchment paper.
Dry at 125 degrees until brittle.

Use in soups, stuffing, casseroles, potato and macaroni salads.

Notes:
*When used in a recipe that won't be cooked, like potato salad, rehydrate before using by pouring 2 parts hot water over 1 part celery.

*1 Tbsp. dry celery equals about 1 stalk.

*After drying, powder celery in a food processor or spice grinder and use as a seasoning.

*Celery is actually an herb of the parsley family.

Drying Carrots

Having dry shredded carrot in the pantry is very handy. It saves on prep time and is an easy way to sneak some extra flavor and veggies into all sorts of meals.

Dehydrating carrots is easy.
Wash, peel and shred the carrots, I prefer to use the food processor.
Lay carrots out in the dehydrator and dry at 125 degrees until dry and "snap" easily or follow the manufacturer's instructions.
Some instructions have you pretreat the carrots by blanching, I do not and they turned out just fine.


Because they are shredded they rehydrate quickly and I generally do not need re-hydration before adding to most recipes.

Some uses for dehydrated carrots:
Cheeseburger Casserole
Creamy Tomato Tortellini Soup
Muffins and Cakes
Meatloaf