Home Dehydrated Veggies for Backpacking

As gluten-free vegans, vegetables are our main food of choice when eating at home.  When we are backpacking, we want to eat vegetables too.  It is easy to buy dehydrated fruit, but vegetables aren't as easy, unless you buy the very expensive freeze dried kind.  So, I set my mind to figure out how it can be done.  And my idea worked brilliantly.

I'll teach you how to make dehydrated broccoli and dehydrated peas and carrots in this post.  In another post I'll teach you how to make fabulous dehydrated green beans and sunflower seeds.  Home dehydrated corn does not work well, so if you need corn, go ahead and buy the freeze dried kind.

Dehydrated broccoli

Buy bags of frozen broccoli.  Get the kind that is already chopped small.  You don't want bags of frozen stems, if you can help it.

You can open a bag and sprinkle it on the try, just as it is and dehydrate it, if you will be putting it in something that needs to be boiled just a little while.

If you want something that cooks up real fast, or you can put in a "just add hot water soup", or put in a seasoning mix, you need broccoli that is even smaller.  Easy.  When the broccoli is still frozen solid, open the bag and put it in a food processor.  Process until it is as small as the processor makes it, or as small as you desire it.  Then spread it on dehydrator trays and dehydrate until dry.  It is a fabulous dehydrated vegetable and rehydrates quickly, with good flavor.

Use the larger dehydrated broccoli pieces in quinoa pilaf.  Use the smaller pieces in Asian Noodles, Black bean soup, or in other instant soup mixes or seasonings.

Peas and Carrots

Use the same method for peas and/or carrots.  I buy the frozen bags of mixed peas and carrots.  The more veggies I can get, the better.  While they are still frozen solid, place them in a food processor and whiz them around until they are as small as the processor can make them.  Spread the little pieces on dehydrator trays and dry until they are completely dry.  Seal them in ziplock bags.  In camp pour boiling water over them and they rehydrate in just a couple minutes with nice flavor.

Use them in the Asian Noodle veggie mix with broccoli, add them to your black bean soup mix with broccoli and tomatoes for more nutrition and flavor.  Put them in any thing else your mind dreams up.  Let me know what you come up with.