The global food waste problem needs no introduction. It has probably happened to all of us: we let a fruit, veggie, or even a whole meal end up in the bin because it went completely bad. But before we let it get into to waste, let’s rethink what to do with food remains.
Category 1: cooked food
Too much of a great meal
It must have happened to you: you prepared a fantastic meal, everyone praised the chef, sunshine, and lollipops… But, you made too much and the next day, no one was interested in eating the same food. Tough luck, right?Doesn’t have to be! Depending on what you prepared, there are many ways to re-use the already prepared dish and give it a new life.
When you’re not sure what to do with a leftover of cooked food, making a spread is always worth a try. For example, mushrooms will be perfect for a creamy, savory mushroom & sunflower vegan spread, which is done in minutes.
If you’re really out of ideas, inspiration, or time, just freeze whatever you prepared until you decide how to use it.
Another way is to use the curry or stew you made for a filling. With this, you can fill bite-size baskets made of, say, chickpea crust 🙂 Case in point: I recently used a leftover of chickpea dough to create individual tart bases. I filled them with steam-cooked sweet potato leftover and the remainings of delicious nutty mung beans with fresh coconut. Topped with fresh tomatoes and basil, they were a fantastic snack or a light dinner.
Category 2: raw food
Fruits or veggies about to go bad
OK, this one is easy. You have a few bananas rotting. If you like to cook, that’s even better than having a few green ones 😉
Use them for anything from banana bread, pancakes, raw fudge… Let your imagination run wild. And I promise to share more old banana recipes with you – they are among my favorite sweeteners in a dessert.
If your avocados are about to die, mix them with lemon and fresh greens to get a spectacular salad dressing. Speaking of which, check out this recipe:
You made plant-based milk. Now what?
Again – depends on what you used to prepare the milk. I can tell from my experience, which covers oats, rice, coconut, hazelnut, almonds… that you can choose from a variety of ways to incorporate these into your upcoming meals or snacks.
The remains of a rice milk can be treated like a bit moist rice flour. Don’t be afraid to use it, just make sure not to overdo with other moisture providing ingredients in a rice-flour recipe.
I know a recipe where moisture is among key features:
When it comes to the other category, say nuts, you can be even more relaxed. Unlike the rice remains which are from raw rice, nutty remains can be eaten raw. But they can also be reused for a cooked meal.