Zero Waste doesn’t necessarily mean eating healthy, although that can be a huge advantage. The ultimate goal of Zero Waste cooking is to be sustainable and utilise as much of your food as possible. Those scrappy end bits and discarded skins often hold more flavour than you give them credit for.
One of the best ways to encourage Zero Waste is by planning ahead. Pick out some recipes that will utilise different parts of a vegetable and buy your groceries accordingly. It’s impossible to expect 100% efficiency and at the end of the day, there’s usually going to be a little bit left over, but if you start composting as a solution, that too can be put to good use.
If you’re looking to start your Zero Waste journey, here are a couple of interesting and easy recipes to get you started.
Cauliflower Stem Pakoras
Ingredients:
Batter:
- 100g chickpea flour
- 80 ml water
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tsp baking powder
- Pinch of black salt
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 tsp cumin powder
Veggies:
- Stems and stalks from 1 big cauliflower or 2 smalls (you can also use any other veggies)
- 1 handful chopped fresh parsley
- 1 tbsp olive oil or ghee + more for grilling
Method:
- Grate or chop thinly the stems and leaves;
- Heat a frying pan with oil and fry the veggies with a pinch of salt for about 3-5 minutes until tender and juicy. Set aside to cool down;
- Batter: Mix all the ingredients in a bowl and set aside while the veggies cool down.
- Mix the veggies and the batter with chopped parsley together until well combined;
- Heat a large frying pan with a drizzle of oil and with a spoon, place the batter to grill, like it would be a thick pancake;
- Grill both sides at medium-high heat for about 1-2 minutes or until it reaches a golden colour.
Eggplant Noodles
Ingredients:
- ½ a large aubergine
- ½ a medium head of broccoli
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 2cm piece of ginger
- ½ a birdseye chilli
- 4 spring onions
- 2 egg noodle nests
- 1 egg
- 1 tbsp of crunchy peanut butter
- 2 tbsp of tahini
- 50ml of coconut milk
- 1 tbsp of dark soy sauce
- ½ a lime
- Salt, pepper
- 2 tbsp sesame oil
- 2 tbsp of vegetable oil
Method:
- Cut your half aubergine into matchsticks, break down the broccoli, and finely chop the broccoli stalk into matchsticks.
- Peel and finely chop the garlic, ginger, and chilli.
- Cook the noodles to packet instructions and rinse under cold water to stop further cooking.
- For the sauce add the tahini, peanut butter and lime together, mix until becomes a paste then add the soy sauce and the coconut milk to loosen, and season with a little
- pepper.
- Place a steamer into a pot, add in water, and the broccoli florets and cook for 4 min. Once cooked take out the steamer and leave to one side.
- Re-fill the pot with water, bring to a simmer and gently lower the egg and cook for 6 min. Once the timer goes, place the egg in cold water.
- Place a wok on high heat, wait for it to heat up and add the aubergine, broccoli
- stalks and a large pinch of salt, make sure to stir and dry fry for 3-4 min until the aubergine starts to colour, take out and place in a bowl to one side.
- Turn the heat down to medium and the sesame oil and the vegetable
- oil, add in the garlic, ginger and chilli and fry for a minute, not letting it burn. Add the aubergine back in and mix it together. Cut down the cooked broccoli florets if some are too large, add to the wok and mix all together, season with pepper and a little salt.
- Add the noodles to the wok and half the sauce along with a tbs of dark soy sauce, mix together well and turn off the heat, add the rest of the sauce, divide between two bowls, finely chop up the spring onions, sprinkle over.
- Peel the egg, slice in half and divide between the bowls, serve with chilli oil.
