Recipes for dehydrated food

[ORChick]

I have been drying food for years, but I am still somewhat at a loss when it comes to cooking with it. Fruit is easy, of course. As often as not it is eaten as is, out of hand. Mushrooms and tomatoes are also easy, finding their way into many dishes. But other vegetables are still a problem for me. My solution is often just to powder them, and mix them in to saucy type things. This evening I mixed some dried mashed potato into a soup to thicken it. But dried, and still in pieces, vegetables don't always re-hydrate well, and could never be mistaken for fresh or canned.
So, any brilliant ideas for using dehydrated food in everyday cooking? I mean home dehydrated, as I think that the commercial kind reacts differently. Certainly freeze dried does. But that is not what I am looking for.

 

[moolie]

I mostly dehydrate fruit, fruit leather, and tomato leather, so while I don't have any ideas for you I'll be reading along as well

 

[cheepo]

dehydrated vegies generally find there way into my crockpot..
.I do the same as you and grind some and just add to sauces for added taste and nutrition...

 

[~gd]

If you dehydrate as thin slices hard vegatables both dehydrate and rehydrate best. chunks are usually disasters. We use a krout slicer on most vegatables.

 

[SSDreamin]

I dehydrate meat, beans (Gr. No. and pinto) and vegetables, and use them without a problem. I do give them a 'head start' whenever I use them. I place them in boiling water and let them sit for a while before adding them in to my recipe. So far, the only item I've had any problem with is peas - for some reason, no matter how long I let them sit and rehydrate first, they stay a bit wrinkly. Dried ground venison only needs the boiling water for 10 minutes to be ready to eat, looking/tasting just like fresh. Potatoes, I boil in water for 10 minutes, as opposed to just letting them sit. Carrots and corn do great for me Hope this helps

 

[Mickey328]

For me the secret has mostly been to partially cook the veggies before I dehydrate them...otherwise they just never re-hydrate. Can't say I ever use them as just a veg side dish though, but I use a LOT of them in casseroles or soups. I've dehydrated chicken as well, and it's great in a soup or casserole.

The one thing that has so far defeated me is mushrooms We love 'em but to date, every which way I've dried, they just don't re-hydrate and no matter how long I cook 'em they come out either crunchy or like pieces of shoe leather