Dehydrated Cherry Tomatoes – Super Easy

Cherry Tomatoes

Cherry tomatoes are easy and forgiving.  simply wash your tomatoes and slice them.

 

Tomato Puree AKA Dehydrating to Beat the System!

My favorite thing!

Marked down veggies from the produce department can be a fantastic savings. Ranging from 29¢ to 49¢ per package (not pound) for fresh tomatoes is a fantastic bargain in anybody’s book.

Shopping Coup

We went to the annual Buffalo BBQ at the city park today. After we were done, we stopped by the grocery store.  I rarely go in there because it’s the only one in town and there is no competition.

But timing is everything.  The greengrocer had just put out a whole bunch of marked down produce. So, I loaded up with everything we could use.  I headed towards the checkout counter with a little trepidation. 

What a beautiful sight!

Mike had gone for cat food and pop.  He was already checking out by the time I got there. In the not-too-distant past, he would have made me put all but one bag of each back, but this time he didn’t bat an eye about it. the man behind me eyed my produce and asked if I was having a big chili-fest.  “No,” I smiled. “This is all going into the dehydrator.”

Tomato Skins - Don't Toss 'Em !

Whenever you dehydrate tomatoes, here is a way to get extra bang for your buck! There is a tremendous amount of nutrition in the skins of just about every fruit and veggie in the world. Don’t toss those peelings and skins.

If you’re not sure how to peel tomatoes, I have a good little video on it. Check it out.

Here are the skins from 30 pounds of plum tomatoes I recently dehydrated. Spread them out on your racks and dehydrate as usual.  I started out at about 95 degrees, but turned it up to 110 because they seemed so wet.

Dehydrating Plum Tomatoes - Details

We bought 30 pounds of plum tomatoes recently.  I dehydrated the entire box!

30 lbs. dehydrated tomatoes, sliced, pureee, powdered

Video: How to Peel Tomatoes

First you need to blanch your tomatoes. This is not to be confused with boiling them.  If you’re not sure about the difference, click on the key word ‘blanch’ on the left to see photos on the blanching process.

After you have cooled the tomatoes by plunging them in cold water, they are ready to peel.

• Pinch a bit of the skin and gently pull.
• It will slide right off.
•  You may need to take your paring knife to remove the stem.
• Dehydrate your skins separately and powder them to use in seasonings, soups, and salad sprinkles.

How to Blanch and Peel Tomatoes

I peel my tomatoes because we do not like the way the skins turn out.  It’s a personal preference thing. 

Linda’s Note: look for the video on peeling tomatoes

Herbal Combinations

Linda’s Note: I took a class called  Put a Little Spice in Your Life class with Barbara Hotaling, owner of Paya’s Restaurant in Dubois, Wyoming.  She gave us a CD she had downloaded from the University of Deleware College of Agriculture and Natural Resources. It’s most complete information I’ve ever seen on herbs and spices. It’s free and available for you to copy.

http://ag.udel.edu/extension .

Here is an excerpt from that file: