Reduce Food Waste with The Conscious Kitchen

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We all want to make a difference in the fight against climate change. We all want to live on a healthier planet, have healthier homes, and invest in a healthier future. But going fully zero-waste, living off-grid, or completely abandoning fossil fuels isn’t easy, affordable, or even possible for many people. For the average consumer who just wants to do a little better, where to begin?

Plant-Based Eating

Rooted in a strong foundation of seasonal, plant-based eating, the book is all about how small steps can have a big impact. How switching to a more seasonal way of eating, being a more considerate shopper, investing in traditional skills like pickling and fermenting, and considering alternative uses for food scraps and leftovers can help improve the health of your home and, ultimately, the health of the planet.

Eminently practical, approachable, and ideal for beginners, The Conscious Kitchen: A Beginner’s Guide to Creating a Sustainable, No-Waste Kitchen for a Healthier Home and Planet (Fair Winds Press, October 22, 2024) is the perfect book for climate advocates, vegan cooks, homesteaders, zero-waste warriors, and anyone interested in taking steps towards reducing food waste.

Enjoy this excerpt from Immy’s new book, The Conscious Kitchen!

When the food we don’t eat ends up in the garbage, it’s hard to conceptualize how much food we’re actually wasting. Why is this a problem? With no oversight or data, we simply can’t keep track of our impact, and the consequences compound and become quite devastating. Landfills aren’t aerated properly for true decomposition to take place, so organic matter cannot return to the earth. This unfortunately means that the food that ends up in our bins could be contributing to climate change. This may sound pretty dramatic, but there are plenty of ways for us to combat this growing problem.

Here is my two-pronged approach to reducing food waste.

1. The first method is to examine meal planning and, specifically, how to use up veggie scraps, cook down peels, and reuse them in other cooking and household projects.
2. Then with the waste you simply cannot eat or repurpose, we’ll go through methods for composting and how you can take your composting skills to the garden to complete the food cycle. Reducing food waste and learning to compost efficiently are fundamental pillars of keeping a conscious kitchen.

Food Waste Recipes

Despite our best efforts to use the whole food, there will always be leftovers or bits of things we have no idea what to do with. So, I’ve come up with some inventive ways to use up peels and ends, repurpose leftover rice, and make fermented goods from food waste. Honestly, however, the easiest thing will always be to chop it up really small and throw it in whatever you’re making. You don’t need to overcomplicate it, especially if you’re just looking for simple ways to keep a conscious kitchen.

ONION AND GARLIC POWDERS

I recently discovered that you can actually turn your onion and garlic skins into their own powders, and you’ll never need to buy onion powder again. Homemade garlic powder saves food waste, tastes better, and lasts a long time. And the best thing? It’s incredibly simple to do.

• Onion or onion skins (or both)
• Garlic skins

Yield: 1 small spice jar

Spread out your onion and garlic skins on a sheet and place in a dehydrator or in the oven at 135ºF (57ºC) for 8 to 10 hours or until fully dehydrated. Remove and allow to cool. Once cooled, place in a blender and blitz until the skins become a powder. Add the powder to a clean jar and place the lid on. This can be kept in the pantry for 3 months.

APPLE CIDER VINEGAR

Once you start making apple cider vinegar at home, it’s likely you’ll never go back. It’s incredibly cheap to make, tastes delicious, and utilizes scraps that would have otherwise gone to waste. Here is a straight-forward recipe that requires only a little time and patience.

• 6 cups (660 g) apple scraps, cores, peels, or pieces of apple
• 3 tablespoons (39 g) granulated sugar, though any will do
• 1/2 gallon (2.25 L) filtered water

Equipment

• One 1/2 gallon (2.25 L) jar, wide mouth
• One glass fermenting weight
• Swing lid storage bottles for finished product

Yield: 1/2 gallon (2.25 L)

After peeling and coring the apples, place the scraps into the glass jar. Fill approximately 3/4 of the jar. Next add the sugar and filtered water. The water should fully cover the apple scraps. It’s important to keep the contents fully submerged to prevent the growth of bad bacteria that could spoil your hard work. To do this, add your fermentation weight to the jar and lightly press down on the apples.

Cover the jar with a thin piece of cloth and secure it with a rubber band. Then place the jar somewhere cool and dark, such as a kitchen cupboard. Allow the apples to ferment and create the vinegar. This could take around 4 weeks, depending on the temperature of your house. The perfect temperature for fermenting is 70°F (21°C), so if your home is a little cooler, give the apple cider vinegar a little more time.

You should notice an alien-like disk forming on top of the vinegar. This is the mother and can be used in your next batch to speed up the process. It can also replace the need for sugar. It is similar to the symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast (SCOBY) you would use to make kombucha. You can store the mother in your fridge with a little vinegar until you’re ready to use it again.

Check the fermentation every couple of days to ensure the apples are still fully submerged and make any adjustments if need be. You always can top up the jar with filtered water if the apples are no longer submerged. Once you have created the vinegar, strain the apples so only the liquid is left. Place back in the jar and once again cover with a thin cloth. Allow to ferment for 2 to 3 more weeks. Taste the vinegar, and if you’re happy with its flavor, decant into your swing bottles and store. If not, allow to ferment for another few days and keep tasting.

Compost your apple scraps after straining.

Leftover Citrus Peels

If your house is anything like mine, then citrus plays a major role in your everyday cooking. Whether it’s adding lime juice to homemade guacamole, lemon to a tahini dressing, or orange to chocolate fudge brownies, there are always lots of skins leftover. You may have already heard of reusing your lemon peels to make a DIY surface cleaner, or just feeding them to the worms. But there are so many more ways that you can use citrus peels in your kitchen. Not only does citrus brighten dishes and add that tangy flavor we all love, but combined with sugar, citrus peels can be candied or even dried into powders.

CANDIED LEMON AND ORANGE PEELS

For me, candied peels are one of the most versatile ways to reuse peels, especially if you love baking. They make great treats that add a burst of citrus flavor and sweetness to a variety of dishes, from cakes and cookies to cocktails and salads.

• 2 large oranges
• 2 lemons
• 2 cups water, plus more for blanching
• 2 cups (400 g) granulated sugar, plus extra for coating

Yield: 2 16-ounce (473 ml) jars

Wash the oranges and lemons thoroughly. Cut the top and bottom off each fruit, and then score the skin into quarters. Carefully peel the fruit to remove the skin in large pieces, trying to keep the peel intact. Use a knife to scrape off as much of the bitter white pith from the inside of the peels as possible.

Cut the peels into strips about 1/4 inch (6 mm) wide. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the peel strips and boil for about 2 minutes. Drain the peels, then rinse them under cold water.

Repeat this blanching process two more times with fresh water each time. This helps remove bitterness.

In the same pot, combine 2 cups (473 ml) of water and the granulated sugar. Stir over low heat until the sugar dissolves, then bring to a simmer. Add the blanched peel strips to the simmering syrup. Reduce the heat and simmer gently, uncovered, for about 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until the peels become translucent. Avoid stirring too often to prevent the peels from breaking. You can gently swirl the pot instead.

Carefully remove the peels from the syrup using a slotted spoon and lay them out on a wire rack over a baking sheet to catch drips. Allow the peels to dry for at least 4 to 6 hours or overnight. They should become slightly tacky but not wet.

Once the peels are dry, toss them in granulated sugar until they are well coated. Shake off any excess sugar. Place the sugared peels back on the wire rack to dry for another 1 to 2 hours.

Store the candied peels in an airtight container at room temperature. They can last for several weeks.

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