Kristen Johansen/istockphoto
DCL
I am now on the board of the Abundance Foundation—a local charity with a broad remit to promote local food, renewable energy and sustainable culture. Our workshops are famously eclectic—from mushroom growing to bread baking to biodiesel—but a recent event caught my eye. The foundation was hosting a "chocolate mousse and hollandaise sauce" workshop. I was intrigued.
A fellow board member explained patiently that hollandaise uses egg yolks, while mousse uses whites—so by teaching the two together we not only build culinary skills in our community (building community is in itself an important tenet of sustainability), but we also communicate the importance of connecting the dots and eliminating waste. Wanna try for yourself? Check out Kelly's eco-eggs benedict for a hollandaise sauce recipe, and her molten chocolate cakes as an alternative to use up the whites.
Of course Emeril is already a whizz with leftover food—including this Spanish potato tortilla recipe—but what about other food that we would normally throw away, even when it's not gone bad? Here are a few of my favorites:
- Beet greens can make a great spinach or kale substitute.
- Bones, chicken necks (if you still get them) and even vegetable trimmings make great additions to stock.
- Leek greens are often tossed away, yet can be delicious if cooked a little longer (try baking them in mac and cheese).
- Bread crumbs can be toasted and put to good use.
- Mushroom stems are great when chopped and used in stuffings.
- Leftover wine can be used in cooking, or to make vinegar.
But there's got to be loads more out there—feel free to share your own thrifty tips in the comments below. In the meantime, I'm going to keep celebrating the fact that a sustainable future can include chocolate mousse AND eggs Benedict. Who says it's hard to be green?
Got a tip or a post idea for us to write about on Planet Green? Email pgtips (at) treehugger (dot) com.
