How many times do you throw out fruit and vegetables from your fridge? Unless you are the efficient super organised body, I think all of us would be putting our hands up to “guilty”. Add up all the dollars wasted from our weekly shop over a year and we would be very surprised I’m sure.
Even though our food waste gets upcycled in our Closed Loop Organics Greta de Garbo, we still strive for efficient fresh food usage. Here are just a few examples from our Natural Temptation Café kitchen:
- Broccoli
- Cherries
- Pineapple
- Tomato Sauce and Chutney
- Avocados
Broccoli
Those broccoli stalks which can be quite long are never wasted. Once the outer skin is cut away, the inner stem, thinly sliced make a delicious addition to any dish be it fresh salad or cooked dish.
Cherries
Our Christmas Cherries are now nicely frozen in packs to be added straight into our morning muffins, no syrup or sugar needed.
Pineapple
Any over-ripe pineapples are added right into our curries for some summer flavour.
Tomato Sauce and Chutney
Tomato sauce and Chutney making is always in full swing at this time of year in the Natural Temptation Café kitchen. We make enough Awesome sauce to last for the year.
Avocados
Avocadoes are always difficult to get them at exactly the right state of ripeness. Any that are slightly blemished or a tad over ripe get cut and scooped into a container for freezing to be used for our raw wraps or our green creamy dressing. This dressing can be frozen in small batches to be enjoyed as needed.
Here is a great recipe for a Creamy Avocado Sauce which can be used as a Zoodle dressing or drizzled over a salad or a roasted vegetable toastie.
1 avocado (frozen or fresh)
½ cup water
½ cup olive oil
3 tbsp lemon juice
3 tbsp Apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp nutritional yeast optional)
2 tbsp agave or honey
2 garlic cloves
2 tsp veggie salt
½ tsp black pepper
1 small red chilli or chilli powder
Blend all until smooth. Use fresh or freeze in small batches to be used as required.
Start the New Year with a waste free kitchen mindset.
Summer is the time of abundance in the fruit and vegetable market so make good use of cheaper prices and freeze, bottle and preserve some goodies for leaner times.