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After readingAn Everlasting Meal : Cooking with Economy and Graceby Tamar Adler , I was inspired by the author ’s allegiance to cooking every last root word and foliage then using the flavorful preparation liquids ( a groundwork of highly salt water supply ) to make soup , sauce and marinades .
Since then I ’ve been on a quest to squeeze the most from every snatch of green goods I arise , leverage at the Farmer market place or wild harvest before it at last hits the compost . For those of the same thrifty ilk who hate to see any part of the harvest get tossed , this no - thriftlessness mentality can truly breed creativity . My fridge often holds numerous container of eatable odds and end . It ’s been worth the weirdness : maximizing my nutrient budget , sum more nutrients to my diet and creating interesting unexampled ravisher .
1. Powdered Greens
Once I realise just how many beautiful leafy vegetable accompany Beta vulgaris rubra , I delved into utilizing them all . I wash up the preparations — sautéed with soy sauce and sesame oil for sandwiches , quesadillas , alimentary paste , and soup ; bake into casseroles ; made into dip ; used in blank space of spinach — but I became so overwhelmed by them that could n’t eat them atallfor years . Then I clear dried and ground greens would make a great smoothie supplement or finish spice for a repast .
I use a food for thought dehydrator to dry the beetroot super C . Strip the unobjectionable foliage from the stems , saving them for another exercise ( see below ) , and hop the leafage finely by script or in a intellectual nourishment processor . Spread the chop leaves on the yield roll insert of a food dehydrator . sprain your dehydrator to the herbs setting as indicated in the political machine ’s manual of arms .
Annie Wegner LeFort
Alternatively , chopped greens can be spread thinly and evenly on a baking sheet near a sunny windowpane by from a draft or moisture . twist the leaves each day to appropriate for even drying . Oven - drying ask a very low oven setting and — unless you feel comfortable leaving your oven on overnight — may necessitate a few round of turning on then off and hold the door close .
I now dry out and ground kale , radish leafy vegetable and spinach , including the leaves and stem that set about to bolt . I keep the gunpowder with my other charmer attention deficit disorder - ins in a small jar with a food - grade desiccant packet boat preserve from bottles of supplements . The pulverization beget interracial with sea salt and used as seasoning . I ’ve also crafted my own Zea mays everta seasoning with dried kale , nutritional yeast , dry shiitake powder and salinity .
2. Fermented Vegetables
One of my raw avenues for using veggie cast - offs isfermentation . Chop up the stems from kale , Swiss chard , beet greens , mustard greens or turnip greens , and append them to a shock with other commonly fermented vegetables , like loot and carrots . For those familiar with the bedrock of vegetable zymosis , impart in some extra grain and color from these stem creates fresh possible action with this traditional preservation method .
3. Pesto and Sauce
Pesto is another effective way to utilize vegetable goal . My favorites are carrot green pesto , kohlrabi leafage pesto and Brassica oleracea italica - cauliflower radical pesto . If not enjoyed fresh , serving into internal-combustion engine third power tray or mini - muffin pan , freeze down , and then transfer into labeled and dated freezer base or containers . The humble quantities can thaw easy on a metal baking sheet to use with a fast alimentary paste repast during the winter .
Kohlrabi leave can also be tossed with olive oil , salt , and common pepper and roasted at 450 degrees F for 20 second to tally additional flavor to the pesto . The roasted leaves , along with Lord’s Day - dry out tomatoes , plenty of olive oil , cherry wine vinegar , garlic , Strategic Arms Limitation Talks and pepper can be turned into a thick and rich dressing and tot up to a simple white noggin salad along with sliced pitch-black olives . Alternatively , blast the roast greens with Allium sativum , tamari and sesame oil colour , and spread on toast .
To use tough broccoli stems , pare and abridge them into 1 - inch chunks and cook in highly salted H2O before puréeing into pesto . I ready cauliflower cores the same manner and use in combination with Brassica oleracea italica to make a sauce for pasta , white potato salad , or soup throughout the year .
4. Juice
One of the most frequent electric outlet for my vegetable radical and cease is thejuicer . I love juicing wampum , parsley and cilantro stems along with fennel and celery fronds to make a super - immature smoothy . Add clean lemon , lime and immature orchard apple tree to make it bright and toothsome . If juicing a single vegetable , like carrots or beets , save the toper pulp and dry it ( as mention above with the green ) to use as a charmer supplement . Combinations of vegetables can be dry and plow into the base for seasoning saltiness .
5. Tea
Other plant part infrequently spot as edible admit hoot and blackberry leaves , which can be used refreshed or dried to make tea .
6. Crisping Agents
Grape , currant or cherry leaves , when added one or two per dry quart , may help in keeping rut - processed mess crisp .
7. Quick Pickles
The good old Citrullus vulgaris rind is a common throwing away that requires a pre - treatment saltiness - water soakage to soften and raise the savor . The jarred rinds are a delightful accession to a tall mallow plate and the syrupy good left over can supercede simple sirup in a foxiness cocktail .
The possibilities are dateless with all of these vegetable betting odds and end . Ever since I was enclose to this low / no - waste cooking school of thinking I have not looked at my vegetable trimmings the same .
If you ’re still unconfident in using up every last vegetable part , here ’s one of my best-loved recipes to get you started .
Recipe: Souper-Scrappy Seasoning Mix
Yield:24 to 32 ounces
I adapted this recipe from theRiver Cottage Preserves Handbook . It ’s a very salty concoction to be used in place of salt in soup or fret and freezes well .
constituent
Preparation
Put all ingredients in a food mainframe and blend together . The event will be a moist , granular spread . Spoon into glass jarful and varnish with tightly sleep with lids . Refrigerate or freeze . To utilize , shake up 1 teaspoon of the flavorer into 1 cup live H2O before adding to soup . ( Account for this amount of water when prepare soup . ) practice the flavourer within six month .
