What To Do With Dried Zucchini

September 2, 2009 · Filed under Uncategorized · Tagged food, FoodPreservation

Because that’s one of the most common search terms used to find this blog, and I don’t think any of the other posts really give it a thorough treatment :-)

To make dried zucchini:

— Slice your zucchini into thin rounds or slices — about 1/8 inch works well.  This is most easily done with a mandoline, but you can also use a vegetable peeler, grater, or knife.

— Put slices on dehydrator trays or on parchment paper.  Set them in your electric or solar dehydrator, or in the oven on “warm” (prop the door open a little).  In a good electric dehydrator in reasonably dry weather, they dry in about five hours.  In wet weather and/oror substandard equipment, it may take longer.  Keep them in until they are brittle.  Pay particular attention to the seeds, as they will take longer to dry than the rest of the slice.

— Keep in a sealed container in a cool dry place.  Check them every few days for mold — if it’s been a couple weeks and they don’t mold, they’re probably fine.

What to do with the zucchini:

• Sprinkle a little salt or other seasonings on them and eat like chips while they’re still very brittle.  If this will be your primary use for the things, you can season the slices before you dry them, so it will stick better.
• Sprinkle cheese on them and toast until the cheese melts for a tasty snack.
• You could probably deep-fry them if you were quick enough with a fryer to get them out before they burned, but I have never attempted this.  It would probably be easier to just fry them *instead* of drying.
• Throw in vegetable soup and cook until they rehydrate.  Rehydrated zucchini slices will be a bit chewier than fresh ones; in many applications, this is an advantage.  They’ll almost never go mushy like fresh squash sometimes does.
• Rehydrate in warm broth, then use in casseroles or lasagna.
• Grind or chop them up and use as part of homemade instant soup powder
• Add powdered dried zucchini to sauces, veggie burgers, or bread for extra vegetabley goodness.

This will, of course, also work with yellow squash or other assorted cucurbits.  Does anyone else do anything nifty with dried squash?