I prefer to prepare dinner with quite a lot of greens, however the waste can actually pile up. I used to be changing into horrified to see the quantity of meals scraps going into the trash. So I began a compost bin. I really feel higher because the compostable stuff is not less than going to good use. However now my compost bin is filling up, which has led me to consider what I am throwing in there. Is all of it compost or can I discover one other use for it? Seems, there are some things you possibly can truly preserve and eat to scale back your meals waste (and a few it’s best to nonetheless positively toss).
1. Veggie Scraps
Even if you cannot use scraps in your recipe, save your bits and ends to make vegetable inventory utilizing kitchen scraps. Nothing beats do-it-yourself vegetable broth and this food-saving trick is as straightforward because it will get: simply preserve a gallon-size sealable plastic bag within the freezer and, over time, add your vegetable scraps to the bag. As soon as it is full, place the contents in a pot, add water and a few spices and simmer away. It is an effective way to scale back meals waste and have scrumptious do-it-yourself broth prepared everytime you want it.
2. Radish, Beet & Turnip Greens
It isn’t simply the peppery bulb that the radish has to supply. Attempt consuming the greens too! In the event you discover radishes with the greens nonetheless connected (or when you develop your individual), get pleasure from their peppery taste in a salad.
In the event you’re a fan of beets, it’s possible you’ll know this already, however people who’re simply warming as much as this earthy root vegetable might not understand that beet greens are edible too. (And a few may very well want them to the foundation as their taste tends to be extra gentle than the beet itself.) The greens are nice sautéed with minced garlic and just a little olive oil. If the crimson vein down the middle of the leaf is massive, it’s possible you’ll wish to separate it from the leaf, chop it up and begin cooking it earlier than you add the greens so it may well soften earlier than the greens overcook.
In the event you dwell within the Southeast, you’re most likely no stranger to turnip greens. However others (together with myself) did not know you would eat them. They’ve a robust bitter taste (just like mustard greens or broccoli rabe), so you’re greatest off cooking mature leaves till they’re good and wilted. Tender child turnip greens are milder and may be eaten uncooked in salads or sandwiches.
3. Fennel Fronds
You might have seen fennel fronds right here and there and thought it was dill (they give the impression of being very comparable), however the fronds have a licorice taste that is extra gentle than the precise fennel bulb they develop on. Use fronds to garnish soup or chop them up and sprinkle them over a seared fish fillet (fennel tastes fantastic with seafood). You too can add them to salads and lettuce mixes for taste and sweetness.
4. Spring Onion Tops
In the event you discover an onion with the lengthy greens nonetheless connected (principally in spring), do not throw these greens away! They’ve a stunning gentle onion taste and you should use them simply as you’d use a scallion. Chop them up and blend them with Neufchâtel cream cheese to unfold on a cracker or add them to recent salsa.
5. Dandelion Greens
Sure, the identical flowers that pepper the panorama in early summer season may be dinner. Or not less than a part of it. I prefer to put dandelion greens in salad. They are typically bitter, so if you wish to tone them down, sauté them with different greens. One thing to notice: Though the dandelions popping up in seemingly each panorama are edible, it is best to stay with dandelion greens which were cultivated for consuming. You by no means know who or what might have sprayed the flowers rising in your neighbor’s yard.
6. Rooster and Turkey Bones
After you roast a hen or turkey, do you throw away the bones? Do not! Use the bones to make hen inventory by boiling them with onion, celery and carrots for about 4 hours, then use the inventory in soup or freeze it for later.
7. Stale bread
Simply because it is not best for sandwiches does not imply it’s best to throw your stale bread away. (Observe: I stated stale, not moldy.) Listed below are a couple of concepts for stale bread: Put it within the meals processor for recent breadcrumbs; use it for stuffing or bread pudding; or reduce it up, toss with oil and bake within the oven for do-it-yourself croutons.
8. Flowers
Not all flowers are edible. (Many are toxic.) However loads are, they usually look gorgeous in salad mixes, used as garnish on the plate or blended with water and sugar for syrups. Within the case of squash blossoms, you possibly can even use them for stuffing. What are different flowers you possibly can eat? Nasturtiums, fennel flowers, roses, violets and pansies. Search for flowers supposed for consuming on the grocery retailer, not the florist-they may very well be loaded with pesticides.
Two gadgets that you just SHOULD NOT eat:
Rhubarb Leaves
The bitter stems are advantageous to eat, however the identical doesn’t go for the leaves. They include oxalic acid and probably different poisons that, if ingested at very excessive ranges, may trigger any variety of signs, resembling problem respiration, seizures, coma or demise.
Inexperienced Potatoes
Potatoes are advantageous to eat, however when you come throughout one which’s inexperienced, it’s best to throw it away. Inexperienced potatoes include excessive ranges of solanine, which may trigger nausea, complications and neurological points. Potatoes flip inexperienced when they’re uncovered to mild (they need to develop underground). It is arduous to discover a actually “inexperienced” potato on the grocery retailer, however when you develop your individual, it is one thing to concentrate on.
