BASIC DRYING STEPS (Vegetable Gardening)

The recipes that follow give you specific directions for drying each vegetable. To prevent problems, keep these basic steps in mind when home drying foods. Remember that only the highest quality vegetables are suitable for drying.
1. Select vegetables that are freshly picked, tender, and just mature enough to eat.
2. Set out all ingredients and equipment. Wash and dry all utensils, counter tops, working surfaces, and your hands.
3. Preheat your conventional oven to 140°F, or follow the manufacturer’s directions for your electric dryer or dehydrator, or a convection or microwave oven.
4. Wash the vegetables thoroughly, scrubbing with a brush if necessary, but handling them gently to avoid bruising.
5. Cut, slice, or grate the food according to the recipe directions.
6. Blanch the vegetables in small amounts at a time, according to recipe directions. For steam blanching, fill the blancher with just enough water to cover the bottom, but not to touch the basket or rack. For blanching by boiling, fill the blancher about half full, then begin heating. After blanching, chill the vegetable pieces in ice water for the same amount of time the recipe gives for blanching in boiling water.
7. Drain the chilled vegetables well, blot them dry, then spread them in a single, even layer on cookie sheets or on the racks of an electric dryer. Don’t crowd the vegetables on the sheet and don’t prepare more vegetables than you can dry at one time.
8. For conventional oven drying, put an oven thermometer toward the back of the tray. Put the tray on the top shelf in a preheated oven, and maintain an oven temperature of 140°F.
9. For box drying, turn on the light bulb for 10 to
15 minutes to preheat the box. Place the tray on top of the box.
10. For convection oven drying, place the racks full of food into a cold oven. Set the temperature at 150°F. Open the oven door 1 to VA inches. Set the oven timer to the “stay on” position, or for as long as it will run, resetting as needed.
11. For drying in an electric dryer or dehydrator.
Sprouting is one of the easiest ways to grow fresh vegetables for eatings both in and out of season. While mung bean sprouts have long been familiar in Chinese cooking, alfalfa and other sprouts have become equally well-known in recent years. More and more ingenious and health-conscious cooks are adding a variety of sprouts to salads, sandwiches, soups, and other dishes — for both the crunch and the nutrition. Sprouts are bursting with nutrients, and certain vitamins even increase when seeds are sprouted — up to 600 percent.
And sprouts are economical, too — from a single pound of seeds, you can produce from six to eight pounds of sprouts. All you have to do is add a little moisture and a little warmth to the seeds, set them in a dark place, then sit back and watch your garden grow in just a few day’s time.
It’s fun to have several jars of sprouts going at once, so you’ll always have variety as well as a good supply. For example, put a couple of tablespoons of alfalfa seeds in one jar, a cup of wheat or rye berries in another, and a half cup or so of lentils in a third jar. Alfalfa takes about five days to reach just the right stage for eating, but your wheat sprouts will be ready by the end of the second day. It’s a fast, easy, and very rewarding way to enjoy vegetables — both the ones you grow yourself and the ones you don’t.