Three super easy zero-waste recipes that will get you hooked on sustainably

We, at Yhangry, have been extensively experimenting with zero-waste recipes these days. The lockdown not allowing us to go out as frequently as we used to might be one of the reasons why our kitchens aren’t fully stocked up. But as they say, every cloud has a silver lining – this got us creating new recipes with the leftovers. The great thing about zero-waste recipes is that they’re so versatile! You could swap to use up the veg you have and it will work just as well so be creative and use up that leftover veg. 

First, as a reminder, zero waste is a lifestyle that seeks to use products that can be reused or composed instead of just thrown away. We know the term zero waste can sound a bit intimidating. It gets used a lot, but it’s important to remember that it really is a term best not taken *entirely* literally. 

Going zero waste doesn’t necessarily mean you will generate literally no waste at all. Our environmental footprint is a lot more complex than that. Just know that zero waste is really nothing more magical than simply trying to live less wastefully, one small step at a time.

That’s why we believe zero waste is for everyone!

So, let’s get cooking and plate up 3 easy, delicious zero waste kitchen swops to make your kitchen a less wasteful space.

Makes: 1 jar of pesto

Time: 5 minutes

Ingredients

Method

Place all the ingredients into a food processor except the broccoli and puree until smooth.

Add the broccoli and use the pulse function to reach the texture you desire.

Serves: 4

Total time: 50 minutes

This recipe is so easy to make in 2 stages. Simply add all the ingredients into a baking dish and mix whilst the potatoes are boiling.

Ingredients

Method

1.  Preheat your oven to 200C

2.  Slice the potatoes into small cubes, leaving the skin on. Place in a pot with boiling water for 12 minutes until soft

3.  Meanwhile prepare the veg. Keeping the skin on the carrots, grate them straight into the baking dish. Add the chopped celery, fennel root, chilli (making sure to not waste any edible parts) parsley leaves and stalks, red onion, garlic, chickpeas and 100g of vegan cheese

4.  To reduce food waste, chop the florets off the broccoli head and then grate the stalk. Add both to the baking dish along with the zest of 1/2 a lemon and the juice of the full lemon. Season with salt and pepper and mix all the ingredients 

5.  Once the potatoes are boiled, mash with olive oil (or how you prefer to do it) and add in the leftover 100g of vegan cheese and mash until smooth. Simply layer on top of the pie mix and place in the oven at 200C for 35 minutes.

A couple of days ago, we had made carrot and orange juice at home. Although it was delicious, we were left with a lot of pulp and didn’t want to just throw all of it away. After much deliberation, we decided to experiment and create a new recipe out of it. Added some sugar and flour to the pulp and within no time, we had delicious muffins out of the oven 

In today’s times, switching to sustainability is a must and why not start from the kitchen? If we consciously aim to make a change, finding the means isn’t difficult at all.

ZERO WASTE CARROT PULP MUFFIN (serves 4).

Ingredients

Method

Preheat the oven up to 200 degree Celsius. Bake it for about 20-25 minutes. Take it out of the oven when it looks crispy orangish-brown.