Hi everyone. Here's the scenario... Santa Claus brought Chucky a brand new dehydrator for Christmas, he has the week off from Hell (er... work), and he bought 6-pounds of beautiful vine ripened Campari tomatoes from Eat More Produce for only $5.00. What's a 2-foot red-headed plastic movie star to do while on vacation?
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| Dehydrated Spiced Campari Tomatoes |
Man, you guys and gals are good! You are right... It's time for Chucky to cut the clear packing tape on that dehydrator box and check that puppy out. After all, it's not like I have to hunt all over for something to cut that plastic tape with is it?
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| 6-pounds Campari Tomatoes |
Let's keep the recipe simply this time, okay? How about: (a) set the dehydrator to 145-degree, (b) wash 6-pounds of Campari tomatoes, (c) grab a can of non-stick spray, (d) grab a sharp knife, and (e) hunt the cabinets and lazy Susan for miscellaneous spice variations. After spraying the tray, slice each Campari into six equal slices and lay them out. When the tray is full, sprinkle each half tray with a different spice variety. Repeat the process until all Camparis have been sacrificed to the Gods of dehydration.
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| Miscellaneous Spices |
Spices (L to R, bottom then top row):
Spice & Tea Exchange "Earthly Delight"
Penzeys Spices "Fox Point"
Spice & Tea Exchange "Vik's Garlic Fix"
Spice & Tea Exchange "Pirate's Bite"
Penzeys Spices "Brady Street Cheese Sprinkle"
Spice & Tea Exchange "Parfume De Sel"
Penzeys Spices "Arizona Dreaming"
Maine Coast "Kelp with Cayenne"
Braggs "Organic Sprinkle"
Morton "Hot Salt"
Penzeys Spices "Fox Point"
Spice & Tea Exchange "Vik's Garlic Fix"
Spice & Tea Exchange "Pirate's Bite"
Penzeys Spices "Brady Street Cheese Sprinkle"
Spice & Tea Exchange "Parfume De Sel"
Penzeys Spices "Arizona Dreaming"
Maine Coast "Kelp with Cayenne"
Braggs "Organic Sprinkle"
Morton "Hot Salt"
What am I going to do with them once they're done? They make a most excellent healthy snack, they can be re-hydrated and turned into soup, and can be used in just about any manner you can imagine. But, mostly I'll simply be snacking on them. Ever eat a dehydrated tomato? Super sweet. It's like eating candy only healthy. The sometimes salt in the herb sprinkle gives it that Yin and Yang component. Call it a healthy version of a chocolate covered pretzel or potato chip.
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| Sliced & Spiced Campari Tomatoes Ready-2-Dehydrate |
Later I'll be making raw apple cookies, experimenting to create a perfect vegetarian jerky recipe, making raw almond pulp cookies, and dehydrating some celery. The Seed wants me to make some healthy and raw dingo snacks. She is getting tired of those store bought biscuits made from who-knows-where using who-knows-what ingredients.
Stay tuned my fine healthy friends. It's gonna get interesting, messy, or both!
Hi-dee hi-dee thank-you-Santa-for-my-dehydrator-ho my friends!
go out and buy thyself a raw foods "un-cook" book... Holy Guacamole! The amazing raw treats that can be made with a dehydrator! (Ani Phyo is one my fave raw food chefs/writers...)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the input Anne! Yes, I'm familiar with Ani Phyo. She has a raw apple pie recipe that I've been dying to make (crushed almond crust, sliced apple).
ReplyDeleteSo far I've made spiced tomato slices (yummy), dehydrated some celery for soups, hot spicy jerky using TVP, and dehydrated many oranges saved from the recent freeze to be used in bottle water for flavor.
I've got some ideals on concocting my own tofu jerky recipe using a jerky gun. I know where to begin and just have to find the time to mix it together and see how the experiment goes.
Again... Thanks for the feedback Anne. It's truly appreciated. I've learned so much from nice people as yourself!
Question: I have a dehydrator and I NEVER use it, partly because it takes forever and seems to suck up a lot of energy, but mostly because I don't foresee when I'll use the dehydrated food. So how did you later use these tomatoes?
ReplyDeleteHi RocketQueen. I got the ideal of dehydrating tomatoes from our local The Fresh Market store. They sell them in their bulk section. I grabbed them for a long distance car trip as a healthy snack and fell in love with them.
ReplyDeleteMy dehydrated tomatoes? Again, ate most of them as a healthy snack and re-hydrated others in soups, etc.
But to be honest, since that huge batch of tomatoes I too have given my dehydrator a long vacation. I'll pull it out when I again find fresh veggies in bulk.