Make do and Blend. "Produce no waste"

Permaculture helpfully has a raft of principles to help guide us. These are like positive little sayings to remind us of beneficial ways to think and behave.

"Produce no waste" is a great principle that is easy for most people to understand especially with "reduce, reuse and recycle" becoming a common mantra. It can be applied to life, in general, encouraging us to be efficient with our time and energy as well as our use of other resources. I love to be efficient and to reduce the amount of waste I create in the kitchen, obviously, I compost but there are so many things that can be cooked that people generally throw away and energy and time can be saved by using the oven to cook multiple dishes as one time or putting a steamer on top of a pan. My favourite example of this is when I cook Leek and Potato soup. I make the soup from the greens that I trim off the top of the leeks so that I can fit them in my fridge, as I get my leeks from a local organic veg box scheme and they come complete with lengthy leaves. I make crisps from the potato peelings and pesto from the carrot greens (yes carrot greens are edible if you don't believe me look it up), three dishes made from what many would consider to be waste and I have saved time by simultaneously cooking them all.

Leek and Potato Soup

Ingredients

Leek greens

A little oil for frying

Potatoes

A carrot

1 teaspoon of Cumin

Vegetable stock

Lemon juice - optional

1. Peel the potatoes and set the peelings to one side.

2. Gently fry the leek greens in the oil until the are softening.

3. Stir in the cumin and fry for a couple more minutes.

4. Add the potatoes, chopped carrot ( set the greens aside) and enough vegetable stock to cover.

5. Season, bring to the boil and simmer for half an hour or until the potatoes are soft.

6. Remove the potatoes and blend the carrots and leeks together.*

7. Mash the potatoes into the rest of the soup or use a potato ricer to break them into it.

8. I like to add a splash of lemon juice to the bowl after I serve it up.

* I prefer the texture of the soup when it's done this way but feel free to blend it all together including the poatoes if you can't be bothered! So that this provides a more complete meal I often add protein in the form of either lentils or chickpeas

Crispy Peelings

Ingredients

Peelings

Salt

Spray oil

1. Lay the peelings out in a single layer on a baking tray.

2. Spray with oil and sprinkle salt over.

3. Put in the oven and bake at 200c for 15 minutes.*

4. Turn the crisps over spray oil on this side and sprinkle with salt.

5. Bake for a further 15 minutes until they are puffed up and browned.

* I don't preheat my oven as its electric and heats up quickly. You will know the quirks of your own oven so you may need to preheat or adjust the times a bit. I quite often pop some vegetables into roast at the same time so the are ready for another day. You can add other spices or flavourings to your crisps, I like garlic, paprika and chilli powder, however, even just seasoned with salt these are surprisingly good.

Carrot Top Pesto

Ingredients

Green carrot tops (chopped tough stems removed)

Mint or corriander (chopped tough stems removed)

Oil

A garlic glove (or more if you are a garlic fan) chopped

Juice and zest of 1/2 a lemon

2 Spring onions chopped

1. Fry the greens, mint/corriander, garlic and onions gently in a little oil. *

2. Blend this mixture with the lemon juice, zest and enough oil to create a smooth texture then season.

This can be used as you would any store bought pesto, I like to use mine stirred into Pasta or as part of a salad dressing.

* You can experiment here and leave the ingredients raw if you prefer although it will freeze better if you cook it. You can also try other herbs, or add nuts, nutritional yeast or cheese depending on your dietry requirements. I haven't got photo of this one as the carrots I used today were sadly 'bald'!