Dehydrating Vegetables and The Dirty Dozen

It's hard to believe that this is 3 full large heads of celery. It really shrinks when you dehydrate it. Celery is one of the dirty dozen foods that are so loaded with pesticide residues you should try to buy it organic if possible. So when it's available and in season, I dehydrate a bunch in my Nesco American Harvest FD-61 Snackmaster Encore Dehydrator and Jerky Maker to use in soups and stews later. I also dehydrate peppers and tomatoes from my garden, as well as mushrooms. I don't bother to rehydrate any of them, I just toss them into the soup and let them rehydrate as the rest of it cooks.

As you can see, it doesn't take much room to store. I keep it in a glass jar in the fridge and it will keep at least a year, although I always use it up before then.
 
To dehydrate celery:
 
Wash, trim and slice. Steam blanch for about 4 min., then pat dry with paper towel and place on dehydrator racks. Dehydrate according to your machine; 3-10 hrs. till fully dried. Store in sealed container in cool ,dark spot.

To dehydrate peppers:

Wash, dry and seed peppers, cut into 1/2 " pieces, place in dehydrator and dry 3-10 hrs.

To dehydrate mushrooms:

Wipe mushrooms clean with cloth, slice or halve, dehydrate 4-10 hrs.

To dehydrate tomatoes:

Use paste type tomatoes.
Wash, dry and cut into 1/4" slices, dehydrate 6-12 hrs.


Here is the list put together by the  Environmental Working Group  of the 12 most contaminated fruits and vegetables.

The Dirty Dozen

1 (worst) Peach  (highest pesticide load)
2 Apple
3 Sweet Bell Pepper
4 Celery
5 Nectarine
6 Strawberries
7 Cherries
8 Kale
9 Lettuce 
10 Grapes - Imported