Dealing with excess
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Rob Adams
Apr 30, 2010, 3:07:00 PM4/30/10
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Hi,
I often find myself saddled with too much of some perishable food, which has either already become less-than-fresh or will shortly. I hate wasting food (no doubt a holdover from my lower-class upbringing) so I've gathered up a few ways to make delicious use of such food to save it from the compost bin. I'm posting a few below but if anyone has others to share please do!
Stale bread - breadcrumbs, croutons, crostini: If you've got a partial loaf of bread on hand that's lost too much moisture to taste good fresh, try making homemade versions of these three staples. Cut off the crust, then cut the bread into chunks and process in a food processor to make homemade crumbs, which are great for breading roasted veggies or veggie cutlets. Cut into cubes and pan fry in 1/4 to 1/2 cup oil with seasoning to make croutons for a salad. Or cut the bread into slices, brush with oil, and toast in the oven to make crostini, which can be served with soup, dips, or toppings.
Overripe fruit and berries - compote: If sweet fruit or berries have gotten a little soft for eating fresh, toss them in a pan over low heat, possibly with a little sugar, and cover. Stew them until they give up some of their juices, then use them to top pancakes or waffles.
Mild herbs such as parsley, cilantro, or basil - herb paste or pesto: You'll still want the herbs to be reasonably fresh but this is a good way to use up a lot of them that are starting to wilt. Toss the herbs into a food processor with oil, garlic, and possibly some toasted nuts like walnuts or pine nuts. Puree until you have a smooth paste. Use this to top pasta or other dishes. N.B. - basil herb paste is called pesto!
Veggies, esp mild roots, celery, and mushrooms - vegetable stock: Cut the veggies into chunks or slices and brown them in oil in a large stockpot. Fill the stockpot with water, toss in any mild herbs you may have left over from the previous tip, and simmer for an hour or so. Remove the veggies, pressing them to extract any liquid. The remaining liquid is stock! Use it as a base for soups, a finish for stir fries, cooking liquid for beans, grains, and pastas, a flavorful way to add moisture to burgers or cutlets, etc., etc.
BTW - You can find more details on pretty much all these tips in Mark Bittman's "How to Cook Everything Vegetarian".
Got more tips? Send em along!
--
Rob
http://usereccentric.com/
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I often find myself saddled with too much of some perishable food, which has either already become less-than-fresh or will shortly. I hate wasting food (no doubt a holdover from my lower-class upbringing) so I've gathered up a few ways to make delicious use of such food to save it from the compost bin. I'm posting a few below but if anyone has others to share please do!
Stale bread - breadcrumbs, croutons, crostini: If you've got a partial loaf of bread on hand that's lost too much moisture to taste good fresh, try making homemade versions of these three staples. Cut off the crust, then cut the bread into chunks and process in a food processor to make homemade crumbs, which are great for breading roasted veggies or veggie cutlets. Cut into cubes and pan fry in 1/4 to 1/2 cup oil with seasoning to make croutons for a salad. Or cut the bread into slices, brush with oil, and toast in the oven to make crostini, which can be served with soup, dips, or toppings.
Overripe fruit and berries - compote: If sweet fruit or berries have gotten a little soft for eating fresh, toss them in a pan over low heat, possibly with a little sugar, and cover. Stew them until they give up some of their juices, then use them to top pancakes or waffles.
Mild herbs such as parsley, cilantro, or basil - herb paste or pesto: You'll still want the herbs to be reasonably fresh but this is a good way to use up a lot of them that are starting to wilt. Toss the herbs into a food processor with oil, garlic, and possibly some toasted nuts like walnuts or pine nuts. Puree until you have a smooth paste. Use this to top pasta or other dishes. N.B. - basil herb paste is called pesto!
Veggies, esp mild roots, celery, and mushrooms - vegetable stock: Cut the veggies into chunks or slices and brown them in oil in a large stockpot. Fill the stockpot with water, toss in any mild herbs you may have left over from the previous tip, and simmer for an hour or so. Remove the veggies, pressing them to extract any liquid. The remaining liquid is stock! Use it as a base for soups, a finish for stir fries, cooking liquid for beans, grains, and pastas, a flavorful way to add moisture to burgers or cutlets, etc., etc.
BTW - You can find more details on pretty much all these tips in Mark Bittman's "How to Cook Everything Vegetarian".
Got more tips? Send em along!
--
Rob
http://usereccentric.com/
--
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Sharma Hendel
Apr 30, 2010, 3:09:53 PM4/30/10
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One thing I frequently do, for what it's worth, is whip up a red curry with whatever veggies I have laying around. I keep curry paste in the fridge and a can of coconut milk in the pantry so it's pretty easy. You can buy vegetarian curry paste at whole foods and a fair number of asian food stores.
Sharma
Rob Adams
Apr 30, 2010, 3:09:59 PM4/30/10
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Oh oh, one more I forgot.
Day-old cooked rice - fried rice: Got some cooked rice leftover? Doesn't taste good eaten straight, but don't throw it out! Day old rice works BETTER than fresh rice if you want to make fried rice. Stir fry some veggies with some seitan, tempeh, or tofu, remove from the pan, then toss the rice in with some minced garlic and ginger. Fry, stick the veggies back in, and finish with stock or wine.
Day-old cooked rice - fried rice: Got some cooked rice leftover? Doesn't taste good eaten straight, but don't throw it out! Day old rice works BETTER than fresh rice if you want to make fried rice. Stir fry some veggies with some seitan, tempeh, or tofu, remove from the pan, then toss the rice in with some minced garlic and ginger. Fry, stick the veggies back in, and finish with stock or wine.
On Fri, Apr 30, 2010 at 12:07 PM, Rob Adams <r...@lokislabs.org> wrote:
John Hovell
Apr 30, 2010, 3:15:43 PM4/30/10
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Hmm... I guess this is maybe a related topic, but I'm fascinated to learn uses for parts of vegetables that most people throw away. Here are some I can think of.
1. Tough ends that you break off asparagus - great for a veggie stock or asparagus soup
2. Carrot tops - A makes a passable "pesto" out of this often discarded part of the plant
3. Chard stems / veins - minced finely it adds a beet like color and chard flavor to a dish
4. corn cobs - can be cooked along with the corn in a dish for more flavor and discarded later
5. Beet greens - similar to the root in color/flavor. Sort of like a cross between chard and beet
I guess in general discarded parts of vegetables generally work for veggie stocks or soups.
I'd be curious to know if you guys have other ideas or things you like to do to make your grocery purchases more efficient.
John
1. Tough ends that you break off asparagus - great for a veggie stock or asparagus soup
2. Carrot tops - A makes a passable "pesto" out of this often discarded part of the plant
3. Chard stems / veins - minced finely it adds a beet like color and chard flavor to a dish
4. corn cobs - can be cooked along with the corn in a dish for more flavor and discarded later
5. Beet greens - similar to the root in color/flavor. Sort of like a cross between chard and beet
I guess in general discarded parts of vegetables generally work for veggie stocks or soups.
I'd be curious to know if you guys have other ideas or things you like to do to make your grocery purchases more efficient.
John
On Fri, Apr 30, 2010 at 12:07 PM, Rob Adams <r...@lokislabs.org> wrote:
Lee Bialik
Apr 30, 2010, 3:18:24 PM4/30/10
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My lovely mother taught me you can freeze nearly everything. I'm on the fence on some items, but this works well with dairy products when you're going out of town. My results with cheese have been mixed (not bad once melted), but with milk I can barely tell the difference - perfect for hot chocolate while unpacking.
Sho Kuwamoto
Apr 30, 2010, 3:25:47 PM4/30/10
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Stale bread
French toast
Bread pudding
Panzanella / Pappa al Pomodoro
Ribollita
(we also use stale bread for meatballs in our family, but that's not veg, obviously)
Bread lasts longer when kept in a plastic grocery bag (less moisture loss). The crust suffers a bit, but you can make great toast for days this way. We usually buy a loaf of bread, eat 1/3 of it that night, and then put it in a plastic bag for toast.
If berries are just overripe as opposed to borderline spoiled, you can use them for smoothies.
Leftover pasta can be turned into a fritatta the next morning (my kids call this "eggy spaghetti", and it is one of their favorites)
Carrot greens make a great oshitashi.
-Sho
Jono Spiro
Apr 30, 2010, 3:47:30 PM4/30/10
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Or get a dog. Dogs have no shame when it comes to leftovers.
Or better yet, borrow mine!
Rob Adams
Apr 30, 2010, 4:31:13 PM4/30/10
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Only thing to be careful of with stock is to make sure you really want the flavors you're throwing in. Some foods have strong flavors that overpower or clash with the rest of the dish. E.g. I'm sure you could get rid of orange peels by tossing them in the stockpot but do you really want your soup tasting like oranges? (Well, actually maybe you do. But be sure that's true before making orange-peel stock!)
Rob
Rob
Rob Adams
Apr 30, 2010, 4:43:40 PM4/30/10
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Oh and on the topic of citrus peels - you can use them for zest, of course. Or you can dry them and use them crumbled in case of extract, or make candy out of them: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Candied-Lemon-Peels-232352 (I haven't tried this one).
Rob
Rob
Monica/SongYi Lee
May 1, 2010, 6:51:03 PM5/1/10
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For me the easiest thing to do is to prevent produce from going bad in the first place.
Berries:
Harold McGee wrote about using hot water baths to prevent berries from getting moldy. From his experiments, it really seems to work. I've never tried because I tend to eat berries pretty quickly but it seems like a cool idea: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/26/dining/26curi.html
Tall herbs, celery, carrots:
When I buy cilantro or parsley I take it home, wash it, dry it in a salad spinner and stick it in a tall water glass with an inch or two of water and keep it in the fridge. Cilantro and parsley keep for a long time like this. If I use half a bunch of celery and don't plan to use the rest right away, I chop off the root part and store it in a tall glass with water in the fridge. When carrots get rubbery, I cut the top off and put that end into water. After a few hours it'll become crisper.
Lettuce:
For lettuces, I wash and dry them in a salad spinner and store the greens in the spinner. Washing it gives the greens a chance to perk up with a drink of water.
Tomatoes:
I know people say you're not supposed to put tomatoes in the fridge because they get mealy but I think it's better than letting them get mushy and moldy in a warm kitchen.
Using not so fresh food and scraps:
I save my parmesan rinds in the freezer and use them to flavor stocks. Just make sure you fish it out before you serve it. You probably don't want to eat the cheesy mass. I use broccoli stalks by peeling the tough skin off and roll cutting them. I heard you can use radish tops in salads. My family used to go to you-pick farms, buy tons of berries, wash, trim, and cut them. Freeze them in small plastic bags and then later use them in smoothies. Pretty much any wilted, sad vegetable is great in a fritatta.
Freezing:
John and I freeze leftover pancakes in plastic bags. When you want to eat one just throw one on a plate and microwave it for like 30 seconds. You can freeze basil and use it later for soups and sauces. If you make biscuits you can freeze them after they're cut/formed and bake them later. Same goes for cookies. Freezing tofu works greats but it does change the texture. When you go to use the frozen tofu, defrost it, then press it, and crumble it for tofu scramble. It gets really chewy-- kinda like ground beef.
I liked your guys' suggestions for bread stale. One of use of breadcrumbs that I tried not too long ago was to toast them in a pan with a generous splash of oil (or butter) and them mix them in with pasta. It's like croutons for pasta.
One last thing on rice:
This is crazy but something my mom used to do with left over rice. She'd take the rice and spread it thin in a non stick frying pan and slowly dry/toast it. Once it's dried out and toasted on both sides, you let it dry overnight. Then you can deep fry it and coat it in granulated sugar! It's mouth destroyingly crunchy but so good.
Monica
Berries:
Harold McGee wrote about using hot water baths to prevent berries from getting moldy. From his experiments, it really seems to work. I've never tried because I tend to eat berries pretty quickly but it seems like a cool idea: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/26/dining/26curi.html
Tall herbs, celery, carrots:
When I buy cilantro or parsley I take it home, wash it, dry it in a salad spinner and stick it in a tall water glass with an inch or two of water and keep it in the fridge. Cilantro and parsley keep for a long time like this. If I use half a bunch of celery and don't plan to use the rest right away, I chop off the root part and store it in a tall glass with water in the fridge. When carrots get rubbery, I cut the top off and put that end into water. After a few hours it'll become crisper.
Lettuce:
For lettuces, I wash and dry them in a salad spinner and store the greens in the spinner. Washing it gives the greens a chance to perk up with a drink of water.
Tomatoes:
I know people say you're not supposed to put tomatoes in the fridge because they get mealy but I think it's better than letting them get mushy and moldy in a warm kitchen.
Using not so fresh food and scraps:
I save my parmesan rinds in the freezer and use them to flavor stocks. Just make sure you fish it out before you serve it. You probably don't want to eat the cheesy mass. I use broccoli stalks by peeling the tough skin off and roll cutting them. I heard you can use radish tops in salads. My family used to go to you-pick farms, buy tons of berries, wash, trim, and cut them. Freeze them in small plastic bags and then later use them in smoothies. Pretty much any wilted, sad vegetable is great in a fritatta.
Freezing:
John and I freeze leftover pancakes in plastic bags. When you want to eat one just throw one on a plate and microwave it for like 30 seconds. You can freeze basil and use it later for soups and sauces. If you make biscuits you can freeze them after they're cut/formed and bake them later. Same goes for cookies. Freezing tofu works greats but it does change the texture. When you go to use the frozen tofu, defrost it, then press it, and crumble it for tofu scramble. It gets really chewy-- kinda like ground beef.
I liked your guys' suggestions for bread stale. One of use of breadcrumbs that I tried not too long ago was to toast them in a pan with a generous splash of oil (or butter) and them mix them in with pasta. It's like croutons for pasta.
One last thing on rice:
This is crazy but something my mom used to do with left over rice. She'd take the rice and spread it thin in a non stick frying pan and slowly dry/toast it. Once it's dried out and toasted on both sides, you let it dry overnight. Then you can deep fry it and coat it in granulated sugar! It's mouth destroyingly crunchy but so good.
Monica
Rob Adams
May 3, 2010, 5:19:03 PM5/3/10
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Here's another way to use up a bunch of veggies: http://content.markbittman.com/node/26
(I'm not sure why these are "Vegetable Pancakes" - I would have just called them "veggie burgers", but whatever.)
Rob
(I'm not sure why these are "Vegetable Pancakes" - I would have just called them "veggie burgers", but whatever.)
Rob
Sharma Hendel
May 3, 2010, 5:27:19 PM5/3/10
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Holy cow, those look good! I bet my kids would even eat them...I'm going to try them out tonight!
Rob Adams
May 3, 2010, 5:29:05 PM5/3/10
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I bet if you used mashed potatoes instead of the egg, you could even make them vegan!
Rob
Rob
Sharma Hendel
May 3, 2010, 5:31:44 PM5/3/10
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yeah...maybe...still haven't figured out a good binding agent. Mashed potatoes seem a little carbo-riffic
Rob Adams
May 3, 2010, 5:35:11 PM5/3/10
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I hear silken tofu also works although I haven't tried it myself.
Rob
Rob
Rob Adams
Oct 3, 2010, 12:25:28 PM10/3/10
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On the subject of using every part of the vegetarian ingredient, I
found this note on toasting parmesian rinds:
http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/toasted_parmesan_rinds/
found this note on toasting parmesian rinds:
http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/toasted_parmesan_rinds/
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