Homemade Dried Lemon Zest

My husband is not a fan of our dehydrator. I admit it — it’s sort of big. It takes up an entire unit of counter space and is kind of tricky to clean. I’d like to say the delicious kale chips I make have changed his mind, but more often than not, I end up gobbling them all down myself the second they’re dry… or before they’re dry. Or before they even make it into the dehydrator. I should probably be more ashamed of that than I am. In an attempt to convert him over to the ways of the dehydrator, I’ve been on a hunt for recipes that are healthy, fun and non-kale chip related. My most recent adventure? Homemade dried lemon zest! I was peeling organic lemons one day for juicing (thanks to my CNE training, I like to do them all in one big batch at the beginning of the week) when I thought to myself, there must be something I can do with these goshdarned peels. After some Googling, I discovered something absolutely magical: You can make your own dried lemon zest by dehydrating lemon peels and then blending them to oblivion. Then it’s just a matter of adding a teaspoon or so to your baked goods anytime you want some lemon-y deliciousness. Mind-blowing, right? Right? The ratio for dried to fresh herbs is generally 1 tsp to 1 tbsp. One lemon yields about 1 tbsp lemon zest, so if a recipe calls for one lemon zested, use 1 tsp dried zest instead. That being said — I like things ultra-lemony, so I tend to just go by taste. I have a feeling you may be able to do the same thing very carefully in your oven on the lowest possible heat, but I haven’t tried it myself so buyer beware. What dehydrating adventures have you embarked upon recently? [recipe id=”528″/]