Saturday, December 20, 2008

Carve It Up And Start Diggin' In!

Recently I have been challenging myself to rethink all my social teachings. My latest challenge has been to rethink the food I eat and the food I throw away. for years I have believed that bruises and blemishes on produce made them inferior and not fit to be consumed. Granted I still find it difficult to dish out $5 for a head of black spotted cauliflower or $3/Lbs. for bruised and blackened pears, but when the good food you purchase with your hard earned dollar starts heading south it's time to rethink the norm. Let's take a look at some of the foods I've shamefully wasted in the past and what could have been done to maintain their consumption destiny, preventing them from feeding the worms in my compost trench.

Pears
These pears had been allowed to blacken, forgotten in the back of the fridge where numerous containers were pushed and bumped against them. After a quick clean and some creative carving they were delicious to eat. The pears could have been consumed raw however with this many in my possession I decided to make some jam for the morning toast. Simply de-stem, juice and follow the recipe of your choice.

Avocados are notorious for becoming over-ripe before you get a chance to use them. Just peel and mash into a nice guacamole, use some of that dried up lemon in the back of the crisper to bring the dip to life.

Oranges and other citrus fruit will often appear dried up or bruised from the outside but inside awaits a wonderful addition to any breakfast.

Bruised apples make wonderful pie or apple sauce to feed the kids. You don't need to carve away the bruise just remove the worst of the damage, perhaps the entire peel, core, slice and bake.


Scabby potatoes and rough looking carrots only require a peel to reveal their true beauty.


Aren't they gorgeous?

Over ripe tomatoes make wonderful pasta sauce, salsa, or soup. Peel dice and cook.

More often than not the food we discard merely requires a paradigm shift in the way we think. So carve it up and start diggin' in.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

just killing time on the net and saw vegbee's site which led me to yours. want to recommend the french film, "les glaneurs et la glaneuse" (the gleaners and i). it's about people who glean food, from fields, farms, and urban areas (farmers markets, dumpsters, etc.). i suspect you will love it.

Heidi's Loft said...

I feel like a criminal when I have to throw away food simply because I didn't plan well enough or pay enough attention to use it before it was too late. I am a fan of "gottago" recipes. Finding things that gotta go and making something delicious. I also have a habit of taking leftovers from several meals and throwing them into one pot and cooking them up. We have had some really awesome dinners that I could never duplicate. Oh well, that just makes life full of mystery and excitement!