Meet Stella Burton – The Resourceful Cook
Fresh off her “interceptor” challenge last week, Stella has a new gadget in her kitchen. This week, she’s exploring the art of drying food to ensure not a single leaf of spinach or slice of mango from her Food Works patron box goes to waste.
The ultimate game changer
This month, I unexpectedly won £100 and treated myself to a food dehydrator – and it has been an absolute game changer.
I started tentatively with the fruit from my box: grapes, mangoes, plums, apples, and pears. But it escalated quickly. Now, I’m drying all manner of vegetables and experimenting with making my own lightweight, dried meals to carry when I go hiking in Scotland next week.
Concentrated flavours, zero waste
It’s made me think about food waste in a whole new way. Soft tomatoes, tired spinach, and spotty bananas all take on a new life when dehydrated. Best of all, their shelf life goes from days to months, and the flavours intensify beautifully. Tomatoes become little umami bombs, strawberries turn into natural sweets, and dried mushrooms are almost meaty.
Drying food is one of our oldest traditions, used long before freezers and supermarkets existed. Modern dehydrators are really just a controlled, cleaner version of sun, wind, and patience.
You don’t need fancy gear
While I love my new machine, you don’t actually need one to try this at home. A low oven or an air fryer works perfectly well for most fruits and veg. For very little cost, it’s one of the easiest ways to rescue the items hanging around at the end of the week before they hit the compost heap. It’s made me more creative with what I already have – and strangely resourceful at the same time!
By Stella Burton
