We all know that effectively using food waste is key to keeping our food system and us healthy. And it’s a huge money-saver. Here are 10 ways to go beyond just cooking fruit and vegetable scraps to preserving them.
Pineapple Peel Vinegar (One tomato, two tomato): Use the spiny, fibrous peels of a pineapple to make this naturally fermented vinegar.
Pickled Swiss Chard Stems(HeartBeet Kitchen):This recipe can be applied to any sturdy vegetable stem like kale, collards, beet greens or broccoli leaf stems.
Candied Citrus Peel (Mrs. Wheelbarrow): Next time you juice a bunch of citrus or make salads, cook up a batch of this old fashioned candy.
Fruit Scrap Shrubs (One tomato, two tomato): Use the basic shrub recipe of honey and vinegar, just replace the fruit with fruit scraps. Great as a tonic or cocktail base.
Fermented Peach Scrap Vinegar Tonic (Hip Girls Guide): Probiotic laden fermented peach vinegar makes an excellent beverage. Try it with different fruit scraps.
Radish Leaf Pesto (Chocolate and Zucchini): Don’t throw out the radish leaves! Use this pesto fresh or freeze it for later in half or quarter pint glass jars.
Dried Fruit or Vegetable Peel Dust (One tomato, two tomato): Dehydrate your fruit and vegetable peels then blitz them to dust in a coffee grinder. Sprinkle in smoothies, yogurt, soups and dishes to add extra nutrients and flavor. No recipe really needed, but here is one for Apple Dust.
Vegetable Scrap Pickles (Food in Jars): Prepping a bunch of vegetables and have pile of short ends, stems and bits? This great pickling template can change with every batch of scrap veggies.
Citrus Sugar (Good Life Eats): Just slip your fresh peels into sugar and us the sugar as normal. No recipe is really required here, but here’s one anyway.
Cherry Pit Vodka (One tomato, two tomato): Cherry pits have a wonderful almond-like flavor (same family). When steeped in vodka the alcohol takes on a cherry almond flavor. This vodka makes a fantastic cocktail.
Tammy Kimbler grows, forages, cans, dries, pickles, ferments, brews, ages, cooks and eats from her Minneapolis, Minn., backyard. At One Tomato, Two Tomato, she aims to show how easy, accessible, healthful and delicious gaining control of your personal food system can be. Connect with Tammy on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest, and read all of her MOTHER EARTH NEWS posts here.
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