Boil vegetable skins and ends into a broth.
The best veggies to use for stock are:
- Carrots
- Bell peppers
- Celery
- Leeks
- Onions
- Garlic
- Stems from herbs like parsley and dill
It might seem strange at first, but garlic, onion, and carrot skins actually have a lot of flavor! So do the nubby ends where the roots and leaves come out. This also applies to celery, and the little hats where bell peppers attach to the stem of the plant.
You probably won’t collect enough scraps to make a stock from one meal, so freeze them in a tupperware until you’re ready to boil them down. You can also add fresh herbs and dried seeds like peppercorn and coriander for more flavor.
If you end up with more stock than you can use within 5 days, simply freeze the leftover liquid for later.
Grind unwanted leaves into a pesto.
Think carrot tops, beet greens, radish greens, etc.
These greens can also be juiced or cooked into soup, but pesto is a good way to extend their lifespan or mask their flavor and texture if it’s not suited to your palette.
- Grate stalks into a veggie patty or fritter.
Most people don’t know this, but cauliflower, broccoli, kale, and collard green stems have tons of nutritional value!
Use a cheese grater or food processor to grind them down into fine pieces and combine with spices and olive oil. Shape them into patties, and whether you bake or fry them is up to you!
Pro tip: add a little bit of potato as a binder if your mixture is too crumbly.
Bake stale bread into croutons.
Cut into cubes, coat in olive oil and spices, and bake at 350F until crispy.
It’s that easy!
But be sure to watch them closely, as they may need to be flipped or set to a lower heat depending on the type of bread, how old it is, and your oven.
Use fruit scraps to make a syrup.
Making a syrup is a super easy and underrated kitchen hack!
Simply simmer your fruit scraps with water, sugar, and spices like cinnamon or cardamom until you almost have the consistency you want, as the syrup will continue to thicken as it cools.
The best fruits scraps to use for this are:
- Apple cores and peels
- Pear cores and peels
- Orange peels
- Lemon peels
- Strawberry tops