Use the Whole Vegetable: Bringing “Nose-to-Tail” Cooking to Your Produce Drawer

We all know food waste is a huge problem; about one-third of food produced for human consumption is wasted or lost per year worldwide.1 That’s 35 million tons of food in the U.S. alone.2

These stats have led many to embrace so-called “nose-to-tail” cooking and eating, wherein every part of the animal is consumed, an ancient practice that fell out of favor on mainstream tables until the last few years.

But produce actually has higher waste rates than animal-sourced foods; the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations estimates that roots, vegetables, and fruit make up 40 to 50 percent of food waste.1

No doubt you’ve felt the frustration of spending your hard-earned money on groceries, only to throw away wilted lettuce or moldy berries. We all miss the mark sometimes. But along with shopping more strategically, there’s something else you can do: Extend the “nose-to-tail” concept to vegetables, using up the leaves, stems, and other parts you normally toss.

“It really applies well when you think about farmers’-market produce,” says Tara Duggan, author of Root-to-Stalk Cooking: The Art of Using the Whole Vegetable. “Supermarket produce is usually already all stripped down and cleaned up, but at the farmers’ market you can get better deals and you get big bunches of carrot tops, leafy tops on leeks, and the greens on radishes. So you get more out of your produce.”

Along with saving money and the planet, eating more of the parts of your vegetables also provides you with even better nutrition. Broccoli stems have as much potassium, B vitamins, and vitamin C as the florets.3 Carrot leaves are rich in antioxidants.4 Beet greens give you iron, calcium, and vitamins A, C and K,5 while squash seeds are loaded with protein, magnesium, and zinc6—you get the idea.

Plus, all of these items offer delicious culinary balance with their more popular counterparts. Beet greens retain a bitter edge to balance out the sweetness of the roots. Squash seeds offer crunch to contrast the tenderness of the squash flesh. The watery crispness of broccoli stems is a foil to the florets’ density.

So how can you utilize these gems hiding in plain sight? Here are some suggestions:

• For carrot greens: Substitute these for some of the herbs in pesto or chimichurri.  Duggan uses them instead of parsley in salsa verde, combining them with anchovies, capers, lemon, and olive oil. They can be bitter, Duggan cautions, so be sure to mix them with herbs such as basil, parsley, or cilantro, or balance with other strong flavors as she does in her salsa verde.
• For fennel fronds: “Fennel is one of my favorites,” Duggan says. “Most people just use the bulb, but the stem and fronds are really sweet, while the bulb is more crunchy and neutral. I’ll use fennel fronds to stuff a whole fish instead of dill, and then use the fennel bulb on the side.”
• For squash seeds: You may already be roasting the seeds from pumpkins, but you can do the same with butternut, delicata, acorn, and other squashes. Sprinkle on roasted squash, or atop salads or sautéed vegetables. Alternatively, add them to trail mix, or bake them into homemade granola.
• For beet- and radish greens: Sauté with garlic, and use wherever you would spinach or kale (see beet greens recipe), or toss raw into smoothies.
• For broccoli stems: Peel, slice, and serve raw with dip, add to stir fries, or shred and stir into slaw (see recipe). Or add stems to a pickle brine, chill for a few days, and enjoy them as pickles.
• For chard stems: “The stems are sweeter and crunchier than the leaves,” Duggan says. “You can thinly slice them and sauté them. Cook them alone first, and then add the leaves toward the end.”
• For potato/sweet potato peels: Toss with oil, and roast or fry into chips (see recipe).
• For celery leaves: Chop and add to salad.
• For herb stems, onion skins, mushroom stems, dark-green scallion parts, carrot peels, etc.: Place in a freezer bag as you collect them and simmer into homemade broth.

Chili-Spiced Sweet-Potato-Peel Chips

Serves: 2–4

Ingredients

3 medium sweet potatoes, peels only*
1-1/2 TBSP avocado oil
1/4 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/8 tsp fine sea salt
1/8 tsp black pepper, freshly ground

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400ºF. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, toss the potato peels with the avocado oil, chili powder, cumin, salt, and pepper, being sure to coat all of the peels. Spread in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet.
3. Bake for 10 minutes, then flip the peels and continue to bake until they’re golden brown and starting to crisp, about 10 to 15 minutes longer (they will crisp up a bit more as they cool). Serve warm or at room temperature.

*NOTE: Use a peeler that will pull a bit of the flesh along with the peel, or press harder than usual when peeling.

Broccoli-Stem Slaw

Serves: 4

Ingredients

3 slices bacon, chopped
Stems from 2 heads broccoli (reserve florets for another use)
1 large carrot, shredded
1/4 small head red cabbage, cored and shredded
3 TBSP mayonnaise
2 TBSP raw apple cider vinegar
2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp ground celery seed
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 TBSP almonds, sliced and toasted (optional)
2 TBSP raisins (optional)

Instructions

1. Cook bacon in a medium-sized skillet over medium heat, until crisp, about 6 to 8 minutes. Remove bacon with a slotted spoon, and place in a bowl to cool. Pour the bacon fat into a separate, medium-sized bowl and let it cool (you’ll have about 2 TBSP).
2. Slice the top and bottom ends off of the broccoli stems. Slice off the rough outer edges of the stems, leaving the tender core. Cut the core into matchstick-size pieces and place in a large bowl.
3. To the bowl with the stems, add the carrots and cabbage. Toss to combine.
4. To the bowl with the bacon fat, add the mayonnaise, vinegar, mustard, and celery seed. Whisk until well combined. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Pour 4 tablespoons of the dressing over the slaw and toss together until fully coated.  Add more dressing, 1 TBSP at a time, if desired, or cover and refrigerate leftover dressing for another use.
5. Serve immediately, or cover and refrigerate until ready to use. When ready to serve, top with the reserved bacon pieces, almonds, and raisins.

Roasted Radishes and Radish Greens with Tahini-Herb Sauce

Serves: 2–4

Tahini-Herb Sauce:

4 TBSP extra-virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup fresh, flat-leaf parsley leaves
2 TBSP fresh basil, chopped
2 TBSP fresh mint, chopped
1/4 cup tahini
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 TBSP coconut aminos
1 TBSP white-wine vinegar
1 tsp raw honey
Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Radishes:

2 bunches round, red radishes (about 15), with greens attached
1 TBSP avocado oil
Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Instructions

1. Make the sauce: Place the olive oil and garlic in a small, room-temperature skillet. Set the skillet over medium heat. When the garlic starts to lightly sizzle, let it cook for 30 seconds undisturbed (do not let it brown), then transfer it all to a blender. To the blender, add the parsley, basil, mint, tahini, lemon juice, coconut aminos, vinegar, and honey. Purée until smooth. If the sauce is too thick, add 1 tablespoon of warm water at a time to the blender (with the motor on) to thin it out. Add a pinch of salt and pepper. Set aside.
2. Make the radishes: Preheat the oven to 450ºF. Place a large, rimmed baking sheet in the oven as it heats. Remove the greens from the radishes and set them aside. Cut the radishes into quarters and place in a medium-size bowl. Toss with the avocado oil and season with salt and pepper. Carefully remove the hot baking sheet from the oven. Place the radishes, in a single layer, on the baking sheet. Roast, stirring once or twice, until radishes are tender and beginning to caramelize in spots, about 10 to 12 minutes. While the radishes are roasting, wash and thoroughly dry the greens. Roughly chop them, then add them to the baking sheet with the radishes during the last 3 minutes of cooking, or just until wilted.
3. In a large bowl, combine the radishes, greens, and 2 tablespoons of the sauce. Toss to coat. Add more sauce, if desired. Serve. (Cover and refrigerate leftover sauce for another use.)

 

Additional Facts and Tips:

• The average North American throws away $2,000 worth of food per year.2
• About 21% of landfill volume in the U.S. is comprised of food waste.7
• When you buy carrots, radishes, or beets with greens attached, be sure to separate the tops/leaves from the roots as soon as you get home to keep the leaves from hogging all the moisture. Use the leaves within a day or two, before they wilt.
• You can turn chard stems into a bean-free “hummus,” Duggan says. Boil the chopped stems until tender and blend in a food processor with typical hummus ingredients (olive oil, garlic, tahini, and lemon juice). Season with salt.
• Fruit scraps are also handy. Steep citrus peels in white vinegar for 2 weeks, strain into a spray bottle, and use as an all-purpose cleaner.
• Gather your mushy (but not moldy) berries in a container and cook them into a quick refrigerator jam with chia seeds, lemon or orange zest, and a pinch of salt. Add a splash of maple syrup or honey to sweeten, if desired. Or blend them with oil, vinegar, mustard, salt, and pepper into a tangy-sweet vinaigrette.

References

1. “Key Facts on Food Loss and Waste You Should Know!” SAVE FOOD: Global Initiative on Food Loss and Waste Reduction, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. 30 March 2018. http://www.fao.org/save-food/resources/keyfindings/en/
2. “America’s $165 Billion Food-Waste Problem.” CNBC. 17 July 2015. https://www.cnbc.com/2015/04/22/americas-165-billion-food-waste-problem.html
3. “Ask The Experts: Broccoli Stalks Vs. Florets.” Berkeley Wellness. Remedy Health Media, LLC. 25 February 2014. http://www.berkeleywellness.com/healthy-eating/nutrition/article/broccoli-stalks-vs-florets
4. Goneim GA, Ibrahim FY, El-Shehawy SM. “Carrot Leaves: Antioxidative And Nutritive Values.” J of Food & Dairy Sciences 2 (January 2011): 1-9. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/216508996_Carrot_leaves_antioxidative_and_nutritive_values
5. “Beet Greens, Cooked, Boiled, Drained, Without Salt—Nutrition Facts & Calories.” SELF Nutrition Data. 2 January 2014. http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/vegetables-and-vegetable-products/2353/2
6. “Seeds, Pumpkin And Squash Seeds, Whole, Roasted, Without Salt—Nutrition Facts & Calories.” SELF Nutrition Data. 2 January 2014.  http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/nut-and-seed-products/3141/2
7. “Fighting Food Waste With Food Rescue.” Feeding America. 30 March 2018. http://www.feedingamerica.org/our-work/our-approach/reduce-food-waste.html

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