Just read this article about using it up rather than composting and thought I'd share my tricks with you. Maybe it can save a veggie tonight?
Unless its mouldy or rotten, its worth a shot!
Oh, and please share your tricks too! Because, a lot of the tastiest and most inventive recipes seem to come up just from those things that were going to be thrown out otherwise. Maybe because all the pressure is off, the goods were heading for their grave anyhow?
So, if it doesnt turn out very tasty, its not a loss at all, just an experiment?
Dead bread:
Slice up the stale bread and let it dry properly rather than letting it mould in a plastic bag, then some day...
...when the oven is hot anyway, drizzle them with oil and spices (chili, garlic, herbs etc) or sugar and spices (cardamom/cinnamon etc) and roast for a moment til'golden.
or
...when you need breadcrumbs for cooking something, zap them up with a grater or mixer and use.
or
...rub them with a garlic clove and the flesh of a tomato, add salt and pepper. Serve with soup, or tea.
or
...crush them and fry roast in a pan with olive oil and garlic, add parmesan/pecorino/other strong cheese, add herbs (if you have some), add pasta.
or
...just eat the dry slices, perhaps with mascarpone and marmalade, or a big slice of cheese
Dark rye bread might not work too well with the sugar and spices or as breadcrumbs, but works well with all others. You might need to grate it instead of crushing it by hand as its much tougher.
With that halfportion of food consider if you could...
...dice it all up to equal size, stir fry if it needs heating, add spices if you like some variation to last nights theme (some greek yoghurt/mayo/sour cream or other sauce if its dry and you dont want it to be) and serve it over a salad or on top of a slice of bread/in a bun or as filling for an omelet.
With those semisoft veggies in the fridge try...
...crisping up lettuce by putting it in ice cold water (with ice) in a bowl for a moment, about half an hour. (If that does not work, the lettuce's a lost cause).
...charring peppers skinside up under the grill in the oven, let cool on a covered plate, peel the skins off and either, mash up, add oil and herbs (some anchovy if you like), a little cream if you have and serve over some pasta; or, marinate in olive oil, lemon juice/balsamic vinegar and add salt and pepper to taste, top some bread with it serve in a burger or whatever.
...cutting softened tomatoes in chunks, drizzling with oil and semi-drying them skinside down in the oven on low heat. Add herbs to taste. Use like sundried tomatoes.
...soon going bad cucumber could be thinly sliced and pickled, heat honey, white vinegar and water to dissolve, add some grain mustard and salt, add the cucumbers let sit an hour until use or store in the fridge for up to two weeks.
...cutting the wilt carrot, cabbage, brusselsprouts, leek and/or cauliflower thinly, add some frozen peas or green beans if you like too, all in a bowl and pour piping hot herbal broth over it for a quick light soup.
or
...cutting the wilt potatoes, sweet potatoes, parsnip, beetroots, carrot, cabbage, brusselsprouts, leek and/or cauliflower in chunks, add onions in chunks, drizzle with oil, add garlic and herbs to your liking (some salt pepper and perhaps rosemary works nicely every time) and roast in the oven on mid heat until the veggies have some colour and are cooked through.
or
...roast the sweet potato or cauliflower chunks in the oven, with oil and herbs, mash them up, add greek yoghurt, lemon juice, salt and pepper and serve on a piece of bread.
... sagging fresh herbs might look a bit sad, but they are just fine chopped and mixed in a salad dressing, a sour cream or yoghurt sauce, on any dish heading for the oven, in a tomato sauce or mixed into mashed potatoes. Just to name a few where looks dont matter.
And lets also talk about using the whole vegetable not just the fancy bits. Because,..
...the stalk of the broccoli tastes nicely as long as it has not overgrown and become woody in texture. Do slice up thinly (!) and use in a stirfry or just as you would use, say, a carrrot or cabbage. Same thing to use the finer leaves of a cauliflower.
...the parsley stalks, and other green stalks from herbs have plenty of flavour. Taking out the coarsest ones (chew a little on a piece and you'll know), throw them too in the mixer to make a pesto-like sauce or leave them whole and cook in a soup for flavour, taking them out before serving.
...the woodier rosemary stalks are perfect for tying up meats if you're out of string or cocktail sticks, they add nice flavour that way. But they can be added to a soup or sauce while reducing just for flavour too, ofcourse removing before serving.
With small pieces of cold cuts, cooked meats etc...
... you can always cut them up and add them to any of the stirfry/ovenroast/soup/salad mentioned above.
or
..just cut them up more finely, marinate quickly in any marinade you like, (a mix of hoisin, sesame oil, lemon juice and cilantro works nicely) and then quickly soften some leeks or onions in oil, add the marinated cut up meat, stirfry, add sesame seeds and serve with some noodles, rice or with lettuce.
Small pieces of cheese ...
...can always be grated and frozen in a box with a tight lid, next time you have some cheese bits, add them too... Soon enough you'll have cheese ready for making your quattro fromaggio pizza, no need to defrost it before either. Or add to a quiche or something...
Boil the chicken carcass ...
...with a bayleaf, pepper, a carrot, the parsley stalks (since you used the leaves for something better), celery and parsnip. Or keep it simple and add just water and one veggie broth cube. Cook a while, let cool, pour in a box and freeze til you need chicken broth. (Or throw the whole thing in the freezer if you dont have time right now but still want to use it)
And about the fruits...
...make a smoothe of the softening bananas, mangoes, pineapple, kiwi, grapes etc or dice and freeze them to make smoothies later. You can add more fruite later as you come by them, leftover spinach and mint leaves work neatly in smoothies too so dont hesitate to add these to the box of fruit you got.
...dice and fry up softened wrinkly apples/pears/prunes in butter, add brown sugar or honey and if you like, cinnamon. A few drops of lemon juice keeps it fresher. Fill a pie dough with it, or mash it up and top a slice of bread with ricotta, serve on top of some yoghurt or with ice cream.
...make fruit leather of any mushy fruits and berries. Pureé them, add lemon juice to freshen up the taste and if its very tart add some sugar/honey too, simmer for 10 mins on low heat until thickened, spread the pureé out on a piece of parchment paper and dry on low heat in the oven until entirely leathery, or use a dehydrator. Roll up and eat later.
Pour the leftover wine into ice cube trays, freeze, use them in a stew or sauce. This one you know, I'm sure.
Unless its mouldy or rotten, its worth a shot!
Oh, and please share your tricks too! Because, a lot of the tastiest and most inventive recipes seem to come up just from those things that were going to be thrown out otherwise. Maybe because all the pressure is off, the goods were heading for their grave anyhow?
So, if it doesnt turn out very tasty, its not a loss at all, just an experiment?
Dead bread:
Slice up the stale bread and let it dry properly rather than letting it mould in a plastic bag, then some day...
...when the oven is hot anyway, drizzle them with oil and spices (chili, garlic, herbs etc) or sugar and spices (cardamom/cinnamon etc) and roast for a moment til'golden.
or
...when you need breadcrumbs for cooking something, zap them up with a grater or mixer and use.
or
...rub them with a garlic clove and the flesh of a tomato, add salt and pepper. Serve with soup, or tea.
or
...crush them and fry roast in a pan with olive oil and garlic, add parmesan/pecorino/other strong cheese, add herbs (if you have some), add pasta.
or
...just eat the dry slices, perhaps with mascarpone and marmalade, or a big slice of cheese
Dark rye bread might not work too well with the sugar and spices or as breadcrumbs, but works well with all others. You might need to grate it instead of crushing it by hand as its much tougher.
With that halfportion of food consider if you could...
...dice it all up to equal size, stir fry if it needs heating, add spices if you like some variation to last nights theme (some greek yoghurt/mayo/sour cream or other sauce if its dry and you dont want it to be) and serve it over a salad or on top of a slice of bread/in a bun or as filling for an omelet.
With those semisoft veggies in the fridge try...
...crisping up lettuce by putting it in ice cold water (with ice) in a bowl for a moment, about half an hour. (If that does not work, the lettuce's a lost cause).
...charring peppers skinside up under the grill in the oven, let cool on a covered plate, peel the skins off and either, mash up, add oil and herbs (some anchovy if you like), a little cream if you have and serve over some pasta; or, marinate in olive oil, lemon juice/balsamic vinegar and add salt and pepper to taste, top some bread with it serve in a burger or whatever.
...cutting softened tomatoes in chunks, drizzling with oil and semi-drying them skinside down in the oven on low heat. Add herbs to taste. Use like sundried tomatoes.
...soon going bad cucumber could be thinly sliced and pickled, heat honey, white vinegar and water to dissolve, add some grain mustard and salt, add the cucumbers let sit an hour until use or store in the fridge for up to two weeks.
...cutting the wilt carrot, cabbage, brusselsprouts, leek and/or cauliflower thinly, add some frozen peas or green beans if you like too, all in a bowl and pour piping hot herbal broth over it for a quick light soup.
or
...cutting the wilt potatoes, sweet potatoes, parsnip, beetroots, carrot, cabbage, brusselsprouts, leek and/or cauliflower in chunks, add onions in chunks, drizzle with oil, add garlic and herbs to your liking (some salt pepper and perhaps rosemary works nicely every time) and roast in the oven on mid heat until the veggies have some colour and are cooked through.
or
...roast the sweet potato or cauliflower chunks in the oven, with oil and herbs, mash them up, add greek yoghurt, lemon juice, salt and pepper and serve on a piece of bread.
... sagging fresh herbs might look a bit sad, but they are just fine chopped and mixed in a salad dressing, a sour cream or yoghurt sauce, on any dish heading for the oven, in a tomato sauce or mixed into mashed potatoes. Just to name a few where looks dont matter.
And lets also talk about using the whole vegetable not just the fancy bits. Because,..
...the stalk of the broccoli tastes nicely as long as it has not overgrown and become woody in texture. Do slice up thinly (!) and use in a stirfry or just as you would use, say, a carrrot or cabbage. Same thing to use the finer leaves of a cauliflower.
...the parsley stalks, and other green stalks from herbs have plenty of flavour. Taking out the coarsest ones (chew a little on a piece and you'll know), throw them too in the mixer to make a pesto-like sauce or leave them whole and cook in a soup for flavour, taking them out before serving.
...the woodier rosemary stalks are perfect for tying up meats if you're out of string or cocktail sticks, they add nice flavour that way. But they can be added to a soup or sauce while reducing just for flavour too, ofcourse removing before serving.
... you can always cut them up and add them to any of the stirfry/ovenroast/soup/salad mentioned above.
or
..just cut them up more finely, marinate quickly in any marinade you like, (a mix of hoisin, sesame oil, lemon juice and cilantro works nicely) and then quickly soften some leeks or onions in oil, add the marinated cut up meat, stirfry, add sesame seeds and serve with some noodles, rice or with lettuce.
Small pieces of cheese ...
...can always be grated and frozen in a box with a tight lid, next time you have some cheese bits, add them too... Soon enough you'll have cheese ready for making your quattro fromaggio pizza, no need to defrost it before either. Or add to a quiche or something...
Boil the chicken carcass ...
...with a bayleaf, pepper, a carrot, the parsley stalks (since you used the leaves for something better), celery and parsnip. Or keep it simple and add just water and one veggie broth cube. Cook a while, let cool, pour in a box and freeze til you need chicken broth. (Or throw the whole thing in the freezer if you dont have time right now but still want to use it)
And about the fruits...
...make a smoothe of the softening bananas, mangoes, pineapple, kiwi, grapes etc or dice and freeze them to make smoothies later. You can add more fruite later as you come by them, leftover spinach and mint leaves work neatly in smoothies too so dont hesitate to add these to the box of fruit you got.
...dice and fry up softened wrinkly apples/pears/prunes in butter, add brown sugar or honey and if you like, cinnamon. A few drops of lemon juice keeps it fresher. Fill a pie dough with it, or mash it up and top a slice of bread with ricotta, serve on top of some yoghurt or with ice cream.
...make fruit leather of any mushy fruits and berries. Pureé them, add lemon juice to freshen up the taste and if its very tart add some sugar/honey too, simmer for 10 mins on low heat until thickened, spread the pureé out on a piece of parchment paper and dry on low heat in the oven until entirely leathery, or use a dehydrator. Roll up and eat later.
Pour the leftover wine into ice cube trays, freeze, use them in a stew or sauce. This one you know, I'm sure.
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