Friday, January 30, 2015

Dehydrating Broccoli

Dehydrating Broccoli
      I love to dehydrate.  It is my favorite way to preserve.   Any fruit or vegetable that exists, I can and will dehydrate it.  Broccoli is easily grown in the garden and we always get a huge harvest from it and can't eat it all before it goes bad so we dehydrate it to be eaten throughout the winter.  By dehydrating it, we can have broccoli whenever we want without running to the store.  

    When it comes to dehydrating broccoli, you begin by washing your broccoli thoroughly.  Then cut the florets from the stems.   If the florets are really big, I cut them in half.  Then in a small pot, boil some water and once it is boiling, drop some of your broccoli in and let it bowl one minute.  Remove and add more until it is all blanched.  After blanching, the broccoli is so much brighter and prettier than before.  Now, spread out the broccoli onto your dehydrator trays.

Dehydrating broccoli, how to use dehydrated vegetables, dried broccoli, preserving broccoli



   Turn on the dehydrator and let it dry for about 8 hours.  The broccoli is done when it is brittle.  To use, just place the dehydrated broccoli in a bowl of really hot water for about 15 minutes.  It can be used just as you would fresh broccoli.  If the broccoli doesn't look "fresh" enough, just soak it in ice water for about 5 minutes and then use.  The cold water improves the look and texture.

       Serve it as a side dish topped with cheese; in soups; or casseroles.  The stems I dehydrated also.  We are not huge fans of the stems so once they are dehydrated I throw them in my Magic Bullet and grind them into powder.  I add some to my green powder and I save some as broccoli powder to be used in dips and as a soup filler.  

Dehydrating broccoli, how to use dehydrated vegetables, dried broccoli, preserving broccoli

    Store the dehydrated broccoli in mason jars.  It will keep up to a few years but we always use up all of ours over the winter...just in time for the next harvest.  :-)

I also like to dehydrate Cauliflower!

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3 comments:

  1. This is a great idea... I love that you make the broccoli powder to add to soups ,etc..Best wishes on your frugal living.. Enjoy reading your blog.

    ReplyDelete
  2. How neat! I've never realized you can dehydrate broccoli

    ReplyDelete
  3. how cool, never thought to do broccoli

    ReplyDelete

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