Sunday night is generally soup night at my house, which a great way to cook dehydrated vegetables. Most vegetables fully rehydrate in 30 minutes, and you can make a fine soup with dried vegetables including tomatoes, peppers, green beans, and summer squash. Brown rice, lentils, and farro also need 40 minutes of cooking time, so they make excellent additions to soups that include dehydrated vegetables.

For fast-cooking pasta dishes, you can speed rehydration by crumbling or cutting dried vegetables into smaller pieces, which naturally absorb water faster. I use scissors or kitchen shears to cut dried summer squash into thin strips, which can be tossed into hot pasta when it’s almost cooked. Drain off most of the water, let the pasta and vegetables sit for ten minutes, and you have the start of warm pasta salad with summer vegetables.