Dried vegetables and fruits provide convenient and delicious additions to family meals. They can be used alone, in combination with other foods, or served for an accent to add flavor.
Most uses require that the food be rehydrated, usually referred to as refreshing.
The amount of water and the length of time needed to refresh 1 cup of dried food can be found in Table 1. If properly pretreated with steam or water blanching before drying, vegetables need a minimum of refreshing. Vegetables such as spinach, kale, cabbage, chard or tomatoes are refreshed by covering with hot water and simmering to desired tenderness. After soaking, they are simmered until tender, and excess water is allowed to evaporate. If dried vegetables are added to boiling water, it takes less time for refreshing.