Thanks to our friends at Sustainable Table for sending through these sensational recipes for reducing food waste!
October is
Give a Fork!month, a campaign focussed 100% on food and packaging waste. We chose to highlight food and packaging waste because waste and the act of wasting is 100% forked.
Cecconi's Orange Peel Muffins, Recipe kindly shared by Cecconi's.
Makes 6 large muffins
To prepare the orange peel
- Peel and juice of 8 oranges, locally grown
- 6 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 stick of cinnamon
- 3 cloves
- 1 teaspoon of finely chopped rosemary
- 1 star anise
First, blanch the orange peels - place a pot of water on the heat, add the orange peel and bring to the boil. Once boiling, strain. Repeat this process another two times. Strain and set aside.
In a small pot, place the juice of 8 oranges, brown sugar, cinnamon, clove, rosemary & star anise and bring to the boil. Add the blanched skins, bring to the boil again, reduce heat, cover the pot and cook for 2 to 3 hours on a low heat.
Strain the peel over a bowl and set aside, retaining the syrup for drizzling over the muffins, using in cocktails or drizzling over poached fruit, yoghurt or cakes...anything really!
For the Muffin mix
- 225 grams of self raising flour
- 30 grams of rolled oats
- 200 grams of brown sugar
- 250 grams natural yoghurt
- 80 mls of vegetable oil
- 3 eggs, free range or organic*
- 1 tablespoon of cooked orange peel
- butter, for muffin tin
Place the self raising flour and rolled oats in a large bowl, combine and set aside.
In a separate bowl, place the brown sugar, yoghurt, vegetable oil, eggs and peel whisk vigorously until combined, then add the flour mix and fold until combined.
Brush a muffin tin with melted butter. Spoon the mix into the muffin tin and bake at 170 degrees Celsius for 25 minutes. Stand for 5 minutes, turn out onto a wire rack and sprinkle with icing sugar. Drizzle with leftover syrup if you like.
*Don't throw your eggshells in the bin. Either pop them in the compost bin if you have one or crush them up and sprinkle them in your pots or around your garden - they help to keep slugs away and leach minerals into the soil, helping to improve soil quality!
Spiced Orange Peel Chutney
This recipe is based on the classic Indian orange peel chutney, terrific with grilled meat or to add a little zing if served with vegetable fritters.
- 1 teaspoon coconut oil
- 1 small red chilli, finely chopped
- ½ teaspoon nigella seeds
- ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 cup orange peels, very finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons palm sugar, crushed
- 1 full teaspoon tamarind paste
- water, as needed
In a small saucepan, gently heat the coconut oil with the chilli, nigella and cumin until you can smell the aromas of the spices.
Add the orange rind, palm sugar and tamarind paste and simmer gently, adding water as needed to maintain enough juices in the bottom of the saucepan. Simmer for approximately 15 minutes or until the orange peels are tender.
Taste and ensure there is a good balance of sweet and sour. If too sweet, add a little more tamarind paste. If too sour, add a little more sugar.
Once cooked, remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly before crushing the mixture gently using a mortar or pestle (you can pulse quickly in a food processor instead) so that you end up with a chutney-like paste.
Place in a jar and refrigerate until use.
Carrot Top Pesto: Recipe kindly shared by City Hippy Farm Girl.
Put a stop to carrot top waste by whipping up this simple yet delicious pesto. Serve on top of potatoes, roasted vegetables or meat.
- Bunch of carrot tops, washed and finally chopped
- A couple of cloves of garlic
- Juice of a lemon
- Enough olive oil to get a good pesto-like consistency.
Pop it all into a hand held mixer or food processor and pulse.
Store in a jar in the fridge.
Pouring an extra layer of olive oil on top will help the pesto keep for longer. Presto! You are done.
Black bean, eggplant & vegie juice pulp patties, recipe kindly shared by A Little Bag of Sunshine, winner of the ecostore Scraps to Scrumptious Competition.
If you're big on juicing, you'll know the perils of trying to make use of all that fruit and veg pulp. Most often, it ends up in the bin. Food blogger, A Little Bit of Sunshine, has come to the rescue with her ingenious pulp patties. Clever, #wastefree and good for ya.
- 1 Eggplant
- 1 cup veggie juice scraps – e.g., carrot, kale, celery, ginger
- 1 cup black beans (cooked)
- 1 brown onion
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 Tbsp. Tamari (organic)
- ½ tsp. Cumin
- 1 Tbsp. Turmeric
- 1 Tbsp. Coriander
- 1 Tbsp. Curry powder
- Salt and pepper to taste
- ½ cup Buckwheat flour for dusting
- Coconut oil for cooking
To cook the black beans, rinse and soak the beans overnight in cold water. Rinse again then place in a pot of cold water and bring to the boil.
Reduce to a simmer and cook gently for about 1 hour or until tender. Allow to cool, then mash.
Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Cut eggplant in half lengthwise.
Place it cut-sides down on a baking sheet. Bake for 25 minutes or until the eggplant is completely sunken in and tender.
Remove to a shallow dish and allow to cool completely.
Dice onion and garlic, sauté lightly.
Once the eggplant is cool, scrape the flesh from the peel.
Place the pulp in a food processor and pulse a few times to make a coarse puree.
Transfer to a medium sized bowl and add the remaining ingredients and mix well, with hands is best.
Mould into patties and lightly dust with buckwheat flour, heat your coconut oil in a pan and cook until slightly chard. Serve in a burger or with a side salad.
Signing up to host a wastefree Give a Fork! meal is fast and free and you can learn about how to do that here on our swanky new Give a Fork! site.
Brilliant people including Sarah Wilson, Tim Silverwood and Costa Georgiadis are on board as ambassadors.
Why not join them in giving a fork?
giveafork.com.au
