One of the most trendy approaches to buying vegetables in recent years is ordering “farm boxes” of vegetables full of leaves, stems, and stalks. For those of us with smaller kitchens, this can make a big mess of mud and leftovers just to fit all these veggies into the fridge. But even worse, it feels like discarding all these extra parts of the plant is very wasteful, so here are a couple of ideas on how to do better for your budget and waste management:
Unexpected Delights
Great examples for delicious uses of the entire plant are cauliflower leaves, Brussels sprouts stems, and beet stems. All are actually great when roasted in the oven with some olive oil and salt, and the beet stems are a fantastic addition to any salad.
Stalk Up
This can take a while to get right and requires a little extra space in the freezer. As you use your vegetables for your everyday cooking, try to collect the stems, peels, and other leftovers in a freezer bag, and when you have enough to almost fill a small saucepan, make your own vegetable stalk from them. Things that would be nice in a stalk are onion peels, kale and tomato stems, celery leaves, and other similar parts that we usually discard. Add water and seasoning, boil and simmer down to get the flavor!
