The oil where the sun dried tomatoes are marinating it's great to use in cooking. It's usually olive oil and it is infused with sun dried tomatoes, so it'll look reddish more so than usual green. It adds great flavor to any dish. I don't separate the sun dried tomatoes from the oil, I usually scoop as much sun dried tomatoes as I am going to use on my recipe and also use the oil they come with, no draining.