Cooking with Kitchen Scraps

We hate to waste food and yet, somehow, it always seems to happen. This feels a bit like a repeat of last week's blog post and yet... it's not. You see, we have a compost bin and so, can convince ourselves that our food waste isn't the worst thing in the world... after all, the wilted celery will go into the compost bin and then fertilize our garden, right? And the dead cooked stuff will end up in the city recycle bin where it too will be turned into compost. Good, yes?

Well, yes and no... I can hear my mother now... and maybe your mother too... back when we were kids. "Some starving family in Africa would love to eat that...". And it's true... we toss away an enormous amount of food. Apparently the Canadian kitchen is on of the worst places for food waste.

 Which brings me to... IKEA. Strange leap, I know but... they just published (and it's available for FREE) The ScrapsBook - a cookbook for your kitchen scraps. Sayyyyyy whaaaat???

Yes... it's true... all of those things that we righteously toss into the compost bin could actually be used to cook something delicious... And not just soup broth... See the scraps below? Bruised apple cores and skins, carrot ends (including the green bits), old black beans, overripe beets and leftover ginger... all of that can be turned into...

 

This... a scrumptious veggie burger... out of kitchen scraps... crazy!

Apparently all of this is part of IKEA's wider pledge to become a circular, climate-positive business by 2030. Their head of marketing (Johanna Andren) said that "Seeing how much waste is created in one of the most important rooms in the home, we set out to inspire Canadians by giving food scraps another look and offering new, creative ways to reduce food waste at home”.

I've downloaded the pdf version of their cookbook and we might just have to try some of these - like maybe Corn Cob Soup... or Pesto made from kale stems... whoa... 

Some cool ideas and a great way to eek every bit of nourishment out of our produce (and there are meat recipes too) before it hits the compost or green bin...