Australian Yoga Journal — January 2018

52

january 2018

yogajournal.com.au

New life for leftovers

Got any of these things hanging around? Whip

up a new dish with a few strategic additions.

Potato skins

or carrot

peels

Drizzle with olive oil and salt, and roast at 200°

until crispy, about 10 minutes, for healthy “chips”

Extra carrot

or beet

greens

Chop, toss with olive oil, sauté, and then purée

with Parmesan and pine nuts for a pesto-like

topping for pasta

Leftover

Chinese food

Add enough beaten eggs to cover the leftovers in

a baking pan, then bake at 180° for 25–30 minutes

for a Chinese-takeout frittata

Leftover

vegetables

Add 1 can chickpeas (drained and rinsed), 1 cup

tomato sauce, 1 tsp cumin, and 1 tsp paprika, and

cook over medium heat until heated through for

veggie stew

Mushy

blueberries

Roll 2 cups berries in flour and combine with 2½

cups oats, 2 cups water, 1 cup applesauce, 1 tbsp

vanilla extract, and honey to taste. Bake at 200°

for 30 minutes for blueberry oatmeal muffins

Overripe

bananas

Combine 3 overripe bananas with 2 cups flour, ½

cup sugar, 1 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp baking soda,

1 stick butter, and 2 eggs; bake at 180° for 1 hour

for quick banana bread

A bruised

apple

Purée with 1 banana, a handful of berries, and 1

cup almond milk in a blender for a berry smoothie

Leftover

chicken

Dice and combine with 1 cup pumpkin purée, 2

cans diced tomatoes, 1 can kidney beans, and 2

cups chicken broth; cook over medium-low heat

for 30 minutes for pumpkin-chicken chili

Leftover

cooked rice

Toss with fried eggs, salad greens, and chopped

veggies for a hearty entrée salad

IF YOU HAVE MAKE THIS DISH

DO IT SMARTER

PHOTO: CBCK-CHRISTINE/ISTOCKPHOTO.COM

AT THE STORE

1. USE THE BULK AISLES AND SALAD BAR TO
   YOUR ADVANTAGE Be sure to read your recipes before you
   shop and make a detailed list to remove the guesswork, says
   Sara Haas, a culinary dietitian. For example, if a stew or soup
   recipe calls for a small amount of seeds or grains, such as
   sunflower seeds or barley, use the bulk section to measure out
   only what’s needed instead of just buying large bags. Or,
   if you need five olives for a recipe and no one in your household
   devours them, don’t buy an entire jar! A handful from the
   salad bar will do the trick, says Amy Gorin, a dietitian.


2. SHOP SMALL Try to buy only for the week ahead, says
   chef Eddie McNamara, which may mean eschewing a larger
   portion that is on sale. Just because you can get 10 bottles of
   salad dressing for the price of five doesn’t mean you should.
   Odds are low that you’ll use it all before the expiration date.


3. BUY PULSES FOR YOUR PANTRY Keep lentils,
   chickpeas, and dry peas on hand to jazz up your leftovers.
   And try stashing a jar of minced garlic in the fridge to add
   flavour to those legumes in a flash (it also cuts down on food
   waste—how often have you bought a head of garlic and just
   used one or two cloves?).


4. GIVE UGLY A CHANCE Sellers typically toss
   “irregular” produce that’s perfectly fine but doesn’t look ideal,
   assuming buyers want picture-perfect items. Thankfully, some
   stores now have a special section for ugly fruits and veggies
   that taste the same as the pretty stuff and cost less too.

IN THE KITCHEN

1. PREP VEGGIES FOR THE FREEZER Late-summer
   bumper crops like tomatoes and capsicum best retain flavour
   when they are roasted before they are frozen. Brush with olive
   oil, sprinkle with salt, and roast at 200° until skin is charred,
   30 minutes; then freeze. Zucchini keeps well when it’s sliced
   into rounds, blanched in salty boiling water for 2 minutes,
   and then shocked in ice water and dried before freezing.
   Green beans, snap peas, and wax beans do well when
   frozen raw; just remove the ends, snap in half, and freeze.

2.SAVE SCRAPS FOR SOUPFreeze parts of food that

are typically trimmed and tossed, like mushroom stems or

eggplant tops, in a zip-top freezer bag, says Gorin. When

you’ve collected quite a bit, make a vegetable broth: simmer

veggie scraps in a pot of water for 2 hours; remove and strain

the liquid. If you’re not going to enjoy it right away, freeze

the extra broth in ice cube trays, then pop the cubes into

small freezer bags for storage.

3. GROW YOUR OWN HERBS Create a little herb
   garden in a sunny windowsill for recipes that require only a
   sprig of favourites like basil or thyme, says New York City
   chef Gabe Kennedy, winner of ABC’s The Taste. It’s gorgeous,
   fragrant, and allows you to trim only what you need.