The limp carrots or drying mushrooms lurking at the back of the fridge, an unopened carton of yoghurt a day or so past its use-by date, a lone cooked sausage, a little of yesterday's casserole or some roasted vegetables hiding in a container - you might be tempted to throw them out, but stay your hand. There's useful life and tasty eating in these leftovers.
There is also creativity in figuring out how to make an enjoyable meal from limited resources as well as a great deal of satisfaction in both saving money and helping reduce environmental degradation.
Towards the end of last week, I looked in the fridge and found "nothing to eat". However, instead of making a quick trip to the supermarket, getting a takeaway or going out for a meal, in the new spirit of thriftiness and not wasting food, I decided to see what I could do with "nothing".
"Nothing" turned out to be:
• A little leftover stew of Tuscan beans simmered with smoked sausage and tomato flavoured with fennel and sage that we had enjoyed for two nights, but there wasn't enough for a third.
• A large bowl of cold, roasted vegetables (potato, pumpkin, carrot, parsnip and beetroot, which had left a red tinge on the white veges).
• Half a dozen eggs.
• A few rashers of bacon.
• A piece of butternut, four carrots, a large red onion and three limp silverbeet leaves.
• The usual fridge clutter - several jars of chutney, mustard, pestos and sauces such as hosin and oyster, cheese, yoghurt, milk and so on.
• In the pantry were potatoes, onion and garlic, and shelves stacked with the usual packets of pasta, rice, couscous, flour, tins of tomatoes, coconut milk, stuff bought "just in case I need it" as well as a plethora of spices. There were also a few wizening lemons, apples, mandarins and ripe bananas in the fruit bowl.
• The garden, which is well into winter mode, was overflowing with self-sown parsley but not a lot else ready for eating.
To revive and stretch the bean and sausage stew I could serve it with pasta or rice, but as the weather was cold, I decided to use up the potatoes and top it with mash like a cottage pie. I sprinkled on a few chilli flakes to give it a bit more oomph and to save turning on the oven, I heated it in the microwave until it was steaming then topped it with hot mashed potato that was flavoured with olive oil and a little truffle oil, made soft and creamy with a cup of hot milk, and seasoned with salt and pepper.
Most of the cold roasted veges went into a salad dressed with a balsamic mustard vinaigrette, a good squeeze of lemon juice, a little finely chopped red onion and lots of parsley to freshen it and relieve the pinkish tinge from the beetroot.
To make the mustard vinaigrette, put a teaspoon of Dijon mustard in a jar, add a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar, three tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and salt and freshly-ground pepper. Shake well and pour over the vegetables. You could add crushed garlic or finely chopped anchovies for a different flavour.
The rest of the leftover roasted veges went into a frittata with the bacon and eggs. Frittatas are whizzes to make - heat a little oil in a non-stick frying pan, add a finely chopped onion and some chopped bacon and cook slowly until softened. If you are using raw veges, cut them into cubes and add as well, so they can cook. In a bowl I mixed four eggs with a fork, added salt and pepper, and the leftover roasted veges, the larger pieces cut smaller. Then I tipped the cooked onion and bacon into the mix, wiped out the pan and poured the egg mixture in.
Cook slowly for about 5-8 minutes until set and golden brown on the bottom, then put the pan under the grill for 5 minutes until set and golden brown on the top. Ease on to a plate and slice. It is as good cold as hot.
The other odd vegetables lurking at the back of the crisper drawer were not quite as fresh as they could be, so I thought I would make a vege stew.
Vegetable stews are a favourite of mine, as they are so versatile.You can make Asian-inspired versions by using ginger, garlic and soy as the basic flavourings and adding spring onions, or lime and chilli, or ginger, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, chillies and coconut milk for a southern Indian-inspired version - you are only limited by your imagination! I particularly like Mediterranean versions such a ratatouille or giambotta, but looking at the plethora of spices in my pantry, I selected a falafel spice blend to turn it into a Moroccan dish - spices need using up too.
I started with some olive oil, a chopped onion and some garlic softening in a pot, then stirred in the spices - the fragrance of cinnamon, coriander, cloves rose enticingly. Then the other vegetables, chopped, went in, the harder ones first and the quicker-cooking ones later. I had carrots, potato, butternut, some red onion, and sad silverbeet. A tin of chopped tomatoes in juice and a little water or wine provided the liquid, then the lid went on and the pot was left to simmer for 20 minutes or so until cooked. I seasoned to taste with salt and pepper and lemon juice.
I served this with couscous, one of the quickest starches to prepare, but which somehow lingers in my pantry.
Put some in a bowl, cover with hot water or stock to about 2cm-3cm above the couscous and leave to sit for 5-10 minutes. The couscous will absorb the water and can be fluffed with a fork before serving.
A vegetable stew can be served in numerous ways - simply serve warm with good crusty bread or as a side to fish or meat; a well-flavoured version makes a good pasta sauce or topping for rice or couscous; you could use it as a pie filling with pastry or filo wraps or mashed potato on top, or as a filling for toastie pies with a slice of cheese; pureed, it makes a dip, spread, or crostini topping; and if you thin it with stock or water, it's a soup.
But if you do not want to do anything extra with it, it's also delicious cold as a salad the next day. Add some crumbled feta cheese if you like, a dash of balsamic or lemon juice and a drizzle of extra virgin olive or avocado oil.
A spoonful of thick, Greek-style yoghurt, perhaps mixed with crushed garlic and sprinkled with paprika, is a refreshing change, especially if you've used Middle Eastern spicing.
When I looked at the four dishes I had made out of "nothing", I realised there was more than two of us could eat that night - we would have leftovers for the following day!
The ideal book for the thrifty cook landed on my desk as I was writing this feature - Making a meal of it: Smart ways to buy, store and use up food by Australians Jane Willcox and Rosemary Cadden (Wakefield Press). They offer invaluable advice and many suggestions on how to choose, best store, and use up many items that are often found lurking sadly in the back of fridges or pantries, from fruit and veges to bread, chicken, meat, eggs (whites and yolks), cheese and cakes, how to use almost every part, and what to do when you have a glut.
It will be of great use as I really get into the ethos of no-waste cooking and eating.
