Americans waste food. Perhaps 130 billion pounds of it. Maybe 40% of what we grow.
I know, that doesn’t seem possible. But the Department of Agriculture has made these grim estimates for us. Embarrassing estimates.
Much of the waste is not intentional. Some food in the supermarket just does not get bought. Sometimes we don’t eat everything in our fridge. And sometimes we just create waste right from the start. Scraps. We make scraps. We cut off stems and leaves. We toss fruit cores aside. Cheese rind is discarded. Peels and tops are generated and shoved aside. The liquid in that can of beans is poured down the drain. What good are they anyway?
That liquid in the can of beans is called aquafaba and you can use it to make brownies:
Those outer leaves on your artichoke? The ones you can’t use? Well, they can become nachos:
In Cooking with Scraps, Lindsay-Jean Hard gives us 85 ideas that you probably would never have imagined be possible. Here’s a further sample of the clever recipes you’ll find here:
Apple Core Syrup
Banana Peel Cake with Brown Sugar Frosting
Beet Peel Margarita
Carrot Top Kimchi
Celery Leaf Aioli
Shortbread with Honey-Glazed Grapefruit Peel and Pink Peppercorns
Kale Stem Hummus
Watermelon Rind-Lime Granita with Basil Whipped Cream
Dill Pickle Brine Potato Salad
Vanilla Pod Sugar
Sweet Corn and Jalapeno Pizza with Zucchini Stems
There is page after page of surprise here. And more. Expansion of your recipe portfolio. Cost savings to be sure. And much less waste. Cooking with Scraps is a win-win book. Where to begin? Oh, that Beet Peel Margarita!