Dehydrated okra - excellent!

[Hencackle]

If you like okra in soups & stews, using dehydrated okra is super easy AND delicious! I planted more than enough okra--on purpose, --so, I thought I would try dehydrating it instead of trying to freeze it. It turned out great!

Just slice and dehydrate until crisp. No blanching necessary. I will definitely dehydrate more this year.

 

[journey11]

I will have to try that. I just got a dehydrator for Christmas.

Will it still be slimey when you reconstitute it? Just curious!

 

[Kim_NC]

How interesting. I'll have to try that too. Good question about the sliminess. What's the verdict?

 

[Hencackle]

I didn't rehydrate the okra prior to cooking because I was making veggie soup and simmering broth will do that job. Just tossed the okra in at the same time the (raw) carrots and celery went in the pot and let simmer before adding the thawed veggies. I didn't notice any "thickening" of the broth due to the okra, but I'm sure that's because I didn't add much--it was about 1/4 cup of dried okra. The texture of the okra wasn't odd either--I did worry that it might be. This batch of soup also contained dehydrated tomatoes and peppers, neither were rehydrated beforehand.

I'm kicking around the idea of rehydrating a small amount to test how it does if fried. I'll let you know the verdict. Wish me luck!

 

[Ariel301]

Good to know!

Whenever I can get a large amount of any kind of dehydrate-able produce, I've been doing so, and stashing it for emergencies or travel, since we usually take a crock pot and make our own food if we have to be out of town more than a day. I'll add okra to the list of ones that work!

 

[seedcorn]

Post of month, maybe year. I love okra but didn't want to freeze it. This is great.

 

[vfem]

Wow, not a huge okra fan, but I've used it for special occasions and if I could save space doing this, I may just buy some fresh from the farm stand next year just to have some dehydrated around when needed.

Good space saving advice.

Can't wait to see how the rehydration test turns out.

 

[jktrahan]

Who woulda thunk? I've always cooked my okra down with onions garlic and tomatoes and then put in ziplock bags in the freezer for gumbeaux, stew or soup, for the winter time. Although it is great this way and freezes great, it is time consuming to simmer it down, add water, then simmer down, then add water, etc .... for about 2 hours. I will sure give the dehydrater a try. Thanks for the great idea.

 

[big brown horse]

If you slice it, season it with salt etc. THEN dehydrate, it makes a great saltycrunchy snack.

 

[Hencackle]

If you slice it, season it with salt etc. THEN dehydrate, it makes a great saltycrunchy snack. big_smile

Actually, I tasted a few of dried okra pieces, and I thought it wasn't bad at all, keeping in mind that it wasn't seasoned before drying. Dh refused to try it, though I don't think adding salt would have helped change his mind in this case.

Can't wait to see how the rehydration test turns out.

Sorry, I'll have to wait until this summer for that because I didn't have as much dried okra as I thought I did.

Definitely, definitely drying LOTS of okra this year!