Winter Cooking Without the Waste: Smart Ways to Use Every Bit Of Veg

If you have a home compost bin, a worm farm, or a little flock of chickens, then you don't have to feel bad about generating food waste, as it all goes to a good home!

However, for those without the means to recycle kitchen scraps into bigger and better things, minimising unwanted organic byproducts of creative cooking is a must.

Vegetables, just like us humans, aren't perfect; got a potato with a blemish?

Just chop out the offending part, rather than throwing away the whole thing.

A rotten spot on a pumpkin?

Again, use the flesh around it (as long as the whole pumpkin isn't rotten!!). 

If your bunch of silverbeet is a bit wilted in the back of the fridge (key words being “a bit” - if it's progressed to the sludgy stage, abort mission and toss that bad boy!), chop it and toss it in a stir fry - you won't even notice it's formerly saddened state!

We definitely support peeling vegetables that have been conventionally grown, but with our organic produce, a good wash is sufficient - no chemicals to worry about here!

I know the peels add more fibre and perhaps a slight touch of bitterness, making a classic potato mash less creamy than it could be - and hey, if the dish wants for such a smooth texture, by all means don't hold back on whipping off the skins.

But if you're tossing carrots, beetroot, potatoes and the like into a curry, soup or stew, you probably won't notice the difference of having the peels left on - plus, they'll add a heap of nutrition and fibre too!

Let me just be clear here: some veggies do require peeling - onions, garlic, pumpkin, etc. will NOT taste good with the skins left on!

Finally, if you have the freezer space, time and energy, saving up the odds and ends - the tops of carrots and onions, the stems of collard greens, kale and cavolo nero, the pumpkin peels and any other worthy bits - popping them in a ziplock bag in the freezer and, when you've got enough, boiling them to make your own veggie stock is a great way to repurpose scraps!

It's important to remember that every little bit counts: not peeling your veggies might save a handful worth of scraps, but it all adds up - let's save our planet, one potato at a time!