Category: Food waste

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Reduce, Reuse, Recycle: Black Bean Dip

It was only in the past few months, as I’ve been reading about sustainability and participating in the Cambridge Recycling Committee, that I finally understood the dictum, “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.” You can see it on grocery bags at Whole Foods, or any sort of green initiative. Reuse and recycle are obvious – for example, the plastic water bottle you purchased – reuse it by refilling it with filtered water, instead of purchasing a new bottle, and when you are done with it, recycle it. People often justify wasteful behavior by explaining that they will recycle. “Yes, I took more paper napkins than I need, but I will recycle them, so it’s okay.” Reduce was a harder concept for me to grasp. Reduce means only taking as many paper napkins as you need. Sure, it’s great that you’ll recycle, but we must also consider the energy expended and the chemicals used to create the napkins – the tree that was cut down, the plant that processed the paper and packaged it, the truck that shipped the napkin to the supermarket, etc.

When it comes to food and entertaining, the mantra would be “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Compost.” With cooking, I find it much more challenging to reduce. In terms of shopping, the stores often dictate the quantities I purchase: I must buy a 1 cup container of sour cream, even though I will only use 2 tablespoons. I’ll admit it’s getting better: I can now buy chicken broth in one cup packages instead of one quart. Most grains are sold in bulk bins. Even celery is sold by the stalk. Most challenging is gauging what quantity to prepare for dinner parties, especially buffets.

So it happened when Dina and I hosted Mole cannoli – a feast of two of our favorite foods. The final guest count was a moving target – between the quest for finding a babysitter or the new boyfriend we didn’t realize would be coming. And we wanted a nice variety of moles, salads and garnishes. Needless to say, we did not do a very good job of reducing – there were ample leftovers. The best I could do was reuse and recycle. We ate leftovers for a few days, and the excess of black beans and mole sauces went into the freezer.

Last week, inspired by Lydia’s black bean dip post, I pulled the black beans out of the freezer. I intended to make the dip for a friend’s party, but as I set out to make the recipe, I realized I didn’t have most of the ingredients on hand. But! I did have ½ cup of leftover green mole from that same evening that generated the black beans. I pureed the two together and, Voila! Black Bean dip. (P.S. The sour cream on top was leftover from another dinner the previous week)

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Cooking from the Larder and Garden

Zuchini quiche

Perhaps it’s a combination of rising food prices, my concern about the impact of wasted food on the environment (both up and down stream) or my general laziness to do anything in the heat of summer. In the past 24 hours I needed to cook 2 meals – dinner for myself and breakfast with a friend – and I decided to cook with what I have in the house.

What I have in the house is limited. Further complicating matter is that I like to have vegetables at every meal, but I don’t typically keep them on hand. My schedule is varied enough that I only buy things that will keep for at least a week or two. Fresh vegetables, which decline rapidly, I buy on an “as-needed” basis.

The garden is still in the early summer lull – the spring crops are over, the summer crops haven’t yet ripened.

I piecemeal together the vegetables: Canned tomatoes from last years’ crop. Organic, truly vine-ripened. And since they’re really “jarred” they don’t have that tinny taste like commercially processed tomatoes. The yellow tomatoes won’t give a vibrant color to a meal, but they are exceedingly delicious.

A few squash blossoms.  As I just learned, zucchinis give off male and female flowers. The female flowers produce the vegetable, the males… well, the males don’t do much. The ratio of female to male is typically 1:5. Given that, I have no compunction about snagging all the blossoms that don’t have fruit behind them. That’s about a dozen over the course of two days.

The celery is not yet fully sized, but I could probably lop off a stalk or two without harming the rest.

The snow pea plant will be dug up in a few days, so I can snip off what’s left of the tender leaves and the last few peas.

The larder is pretty well stocked: eggs, milk, pastry crust, bacon, cheese, bread, black beans. And I have some left-over grilled vegetables – ¼ of a zucchini (from the farmers market) and ¼ of a bell pepper.

For the first meal, my dinner, the solution is obvious and easy: I pureed the canned tomatoes, warmed them and served it as soup with a grilled cheese sandwich. I garnished with some squash blossoms and fresh basil.
Grilled-cheese-and-tomatoes

For the breakfast, quiche seemed like a great option because I have crusts in the freezer (left over from the strawberry-rhubarb pies. I could make a variation on an Alsatian Quiche with onions, bacon and cheddar (instead of gruyere).

Instead, I opt for “summer vegetable.” I like that I can use up some leftover grilled vegetables, another can of tomatoes (I have about 8 pints left from last summer that I need to use before this year’s canning adventure begins) and the basil and scallions from the garden. The onions and bacon will keep for another meal.

Summer Vegetable Quiche

Pie Crust
1 ½ cups milk or half-n-half
½ cup pureed tomatoes
3 eggs
1 cup left-over summer vegetables: zucchini, red peppers, snap peas, celery etc.
½ cup cheddar cheese grated
Fresh basil, chopped
Fresh scallions, chopped
1/2 tsp. Salt
1/4 tsp. pepper

Combine milk and tomato puree in a sauce pot. Heat over medium flame until small bubble form on the edges. While milk is heating, whisk eggs. Slowly drizzle milk into egg mixture until combine.  Season with salt and pepper.

Line pie pan with pie dough. Sprinkle vegetables, cheese and herbs on top. Pour egg mixture over the vegetables until the pie shell is full.

Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until quiche is set.

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Inspiration without Waste

Or…

Reducing the Compost Pile, Part 2
This past week, like most, involved a trip to my favorite food market: Russo’s. The produce selection is awesome (and I mean this in a traditional sense of the word, not a 15-year old sense) – as an example, they carry at least 8 varieties of eggplant (traditional American, Italian, Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Indian, white and rosetta) and mushrooms (button, American shiitake, Chinese shiitake, crimini, oyster, king oyster, hedge hogs, portobellas). If you want inspiration, this is the place to roam. They have Asian vegetables: Chinese Broccoli, Rambatans, Banana Flowers, Garlic Chives, Bud Chives, Yellow Chives, along with the usual suspects of bok choy and snow peas. They stock a deli case with 3 kinds of prosciutto crudo, and also pancetta, sopressetto and salami. They manage to cater to the Armenian, Asian, Italian and Jewish populations… giving the market a sense of being an ethnic market, when in fact they are really a green grocer.

I arrive at the market with no clear plan, which is great if one is seeking inspiration, but not as much so if you’re trying to reduce food waste. I tried to bring the two notions together as I thought about the week’s agenda: a Memorial Day get-together with a few friends, many dinners out, but lots of lunches at home. I leave with visions of culinary greatness: a strawberry-rhubarb pie; home-made cannolis with home-made ricotta; minty spring vegetables (English peas, favas and asparagus) to accompany lamb and mango chutney. For my lunches: chicken, avocado and blue cheese – to make cobb salad with the first cutting of arugula from the garden. I buy chicken thighs to brine and smoke… and even though I don’t have a specific plan for them, smoked chicken will never go to waste in this house! And, of course, more bacon and scallions for another batch of scones.

In the process of all this cooking, I discovered mozzarella curd in the freezer that had been there for at least 2 years. I figured – I might as well cook it up, if the cheese is bad, I throw it away, if not – one point in the “no waste” column. Also, I remember the beets I had roasted earlier in the week, and stumble across basil that I froze at the end of last summer’s harvest – add them to a dish, and that’s one more point! The cannoli shells flopped (minus ½ point). I had already made the ricotta, though, so I’m now left with two kinds of cheese.

The mozzarella and ricotta come together with a basil pesto and smoked chicken atop a grilled pizza. This will be the appetizer for the Memorial Day dinner.

Speaking of which, the guest count for the Memorial Day fete swelled slightly so the single mango and two lamb tenders in the freezer will no longer suffice. But I still have two chicken breasts left from my cobb salad lunch. The potatoes I bought a few weeks ago are still firm and unblemished. To stretch the minty-spring vegetables, I add in a fresh arugula salad seasoned simply with olive oil and lemon juice. While I won’t have enough of any dish for everyone to make a meal, I do have enough food to feed everyone. So rather than return to the market to buy more lamb and spring vegetables, I opt for a medley, and hope my friends excuse the lack of focus. I think this is another point in the “no-waste” column.

Grilled “Green” Pizza with Ricotta, Mozzarella and Smoked Chicken
Lamb Tenders and Chicken Breasts with Mango Chutney
Minty Spring Vegetables and Roasted Beets with Bacon
Garlic Roasted Yukon Gold Potatoes with Lemon Zest
Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

Total: 2 ½ points in the no-waste column.

For the rhubarb pie, I made them in individual ramekins. This has the double benefit of being easier to assemble and creating a more elegant presentation.
Mango Chutney
4 mangoes, peeled and chopped (or 2 cups chopped apples or strawberries)
2 cups sugar, brown or white
1 small onion, diced
2 1/2 cups vinegar, red, white or balsamic
2 in. piece of fresh ginger, peeled and choped
6 garlic cloves, chopped
1 – 2 tsp. chili powder
1 cinnamon stick or 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
2/3 cup raisins

Put sugar and vinegar in sauce pan. Bring to a boil, stirring until sugar has dissolved. Add mangoes and remaining ingredients. Simmer over low heat until chutney is reduced and thick, stirring occasionally, about ½ hour.

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Reducing the Compost Pile, Part I

After just two weeks of composting, my bin already has a good base. Though this is not necessarily something to be proud of… much of it is the product of food waste – overly ambitious food projects, last minute dinner invitations that mean I cook less at home despite a full fridge, etcetera.

I’ve become increasingly interested in the issue food waste after reading an article in the New York Times last week. It ties in with the issue of reducing our carbon foot-print as well as rising food costs. As I blogged about earlier, and has been well documented in the press lately, food scraps in our trash ends up in land-fills and adds to greenhouse gases in the form of methane. We can reduce this effect by composting, but this does not address the second issue of rising food costs.

Do you recall being admonished (or hearing stories of others) for not cleaning your plate because there are starving children in Ethiopia, China, India, etcetera? The cynic doubts that clearing our plates will reduce world-wide hunger. After all, how will the food from my plate get to those needy families? Another rebuttal is that I have already paid for the food, so I own it and can throw it away if I want. The answer is a matter of supply and demand. If I take more than I need, supply is decreased, and demand is increased thereby raising prices. If I only buy what I will consume, the supply is increased and prices decrease.

Again, like composting, how can the little things I do make a difference? Supermarkets and restaurants are the biggest culprits – with supermarkets throwing away produce with the slightest blemish, lest they tarnish their reputation for the freshest and best produce. And restaurants serving more than any person can eat in a single sitting – leaving the diner to waste the food or bring it home in a doggy bag and hope it makes its way into a subsequent meal. The best I can do is align my beliefs with my actions that demonstrate my concern. This alignment can be viral and incite the bigger players to take action.

You can read more about this issue at Jonathan Bloom’s Blog.

With dancing thoughts of reforming my wasteful ways, I embarked on some culinary adventures…. Stay tuned.