Garbage mouth, aka food rehab

So many people have become aware of how much food is wasted when so many are hungry, there's now an international organization dedicated to turning farm trash into farm fresh meals. It's called Feedback, it's out of London and it's staged mass feedings in 41 major cities around the planet to raise more awareness. Yesterday, Friday October 7 it was in the smallest city yet to serve up trash, Portland, Maine, where soup for 5000 people came from 4000 lbs--that's two tons, of veggies that local farms would've plowed under because they weren't pretty or they were just too abundant.

All the talk served with the soup was about how many people, especially children, are hungry because they can't afford or reach food when there is plenty of it out there. It was equally about utilizing not only every part of every edible animal, but every veggie and fruit that comes to life to spread the wealth and health. Carrots with a gnarl have the same vitamins and taste as beauty pageant ones. Ditto bell peppers with a dent or cabbage heads with a black spot on the outer leaves.

Sadly, nobody pointed out the more obvious: the bigger waste problem and easier one to tackle is in the kitchen. Frankly, I could've run that garbage to goodness gamut all by myself with volunteers gleaning in my kitchen. I pig out at farmers' markets: all those mile high piles of gorgeous, colorful produce make me hungry to have it all and I can't help myself so I overdose.  Eyes way wider than stove top and stomach. And of course after a few days, I've got stuff starting to rot all over my fridge and counters.

I know I am not the only pig out there who regularly overdoses and needs food rehab. I have friends who won't even eat their own leftovers. So let's talk yet again about how to deal with all that edible stuff stuck in your life uneaten and unloved. Let's not go on a long guilt trip about tossing it when people are starving....not in Darfur but right in your own bailiwick these days. In Maine, where the event took place, more than 1/4 of schoolchildren go hungry.

As I said, they could've run the event out of my kitchen. In the last week alone, from the lonely in the fridge, freezer and breadbox, I've made two incredible pots of soup, garlic croutons, roasted spiced pumpkin (squash) seeds and mixed pesto--much of which I gifted others. The essential ingredients for all those recipes were will and a few minutes. It's awareness practice. And it makes me feel good. So I am sharing.

I've already posted lots of recipes for stomachfill instead of landfill. But in the spirit of Feedback, here are some of the big winners again along with a new one or two. For a whole host of how to make leftover bread into fabulous breadcrumb dishes, check out the post of March 2015. You'll be rewarded with the greatest chocolate bread pudding recipe ever baked.

Chili spiced roasted pepitas (pumpkin/squash seeds)
Easy to make, tasty to munch and outrageously nutritious to boot, so don't throw away those seeds.
Yes, it's a pain to scrape and clean them but you'll forget that once you dig in to the finished product.
(Or cheat by buying a bag.)

3-4 cups clean, dry pumpkin/squash seeds
2-3 tbsp corn or canola oil
2 tsp (or more if you like salty) salt
3 tsp chipotle or ancho chili powder
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp ground coriander
OR: just use your favorite spice combo and include chili powder or hot paprika

Preheat the oven to 325º. Put the seeds in a large bowl and add the oil, stirring to blend so all the seeds get coated. Add the salt and all spices and blend everything really well.  Pour the seeds onto a cookie sheet and spread into the thinnest possible layer. (I line my sheet with cooking parchment to spare cleanup.  Roast for 20-30 minutes until the seeds are dry, brown and crunchy. Cool and dig in. These store in tightly closed tins and jars. I keep my jar in the fridge and sprinkle them on lettuce salads all winter.

Trash Torte
This is for all those annoying carrot, radish, beet, leek and turnip tops, fennel fronds, and those stray leaves of arugula, chard, lettuce and kale you didn't use. Decorated in the photo with spring garlic scapes. It's gluten free, vegan, thrifty and incredibly nutritious.

Chop whatever you've got up in a large bowl. You'll need about 3 big handfuls. If you've got scallions around dice them in. Add whatever herbs you can scavenger: dill, cilantro, mint, flat leaf parsley in any combination. Season with sea salt and pepper. Add a pinch of red pepper flakes, crumble in 3 oz goat or feta cheese, and bind it all together with an egg or two (depending on how many greens you have). Spread the mix out in a shallow oiled baking/quiche dish large or small enough so that the "pie" is no thicker than 1/2". Top with a sprinkle of nutmeg and bake at 350º until it is firm enough to spring back to the touch (maybe 15 minutes). Slice in wedges and enjoy warm or at room temperature.

Ribollita
This is how Italians, who do know how to cook tasty, turn their leftover bread into scrumptious, hearty soup, It will use up the fall veggies languishing in your fridge right now and best of all that Parmesan rind you were going to toss out. You have no idea what tantalizing flavor it brings to soup til you toss it in.
For 4-6

3 tbsp and 2 tsp olive oil
1 med onion, peeled and diced
1 lg garlic clove, peeled and minced
½ tsp dried rosemary leaves
2 sm or 1 lg celery stalks, finely chopped
1 lg carrot, peeled and finely chopped
½ Savoy cabbage, shredded
4 stalks red chard, stems removed and chopped
1 bunch Tuscan/lacinto/blue kale, stems removed and chopped
6-7 cups broth or water
salt and freshly ground black pepper to your taste
2 cans (14 oz) cannellini (white kidney) beans, drained
1-2 tbsp tomato paste 
6 slices day or two old (i.e.stale) Tuscan or other dense crusty Italian bread
Fruity olive oil for final garnish
Optional: that Parmesan rind you were going to throw out

Coat bottom of a large heavy-gauge pot with 3 tbsp olive oil and heat on medium flame. Add onion, garlic, rosemary, celery and carrots. Sauté until soft, 5 minutes. Season with freshly ground black pepper to your taste.  Add Savoy cabbage and chard, stirring to blend, and cook until they wilt.

Add broth, cheese ring, salt and kale. Bring to boil, reduce heat to simmer, cover pot and simmer 40-45 minutes, until vegetables are soft. Timing does not have to be precise.
Purée 1 can of beans. Add puréed and whole beans to the soup along with the tomato paste. (suit yourself with how much) Stir to blend everything. Continue to simmer with lid on pot 15 minutes. Stir from time to time so nothing sticks to the bottom. Taste for salt and correct if necessary.

At this point, you can be very Tuscan and get out a large earthenware casserole pot, then layer the bread and soup in it. Or you can simply add the bread to the soup pot you’re already using, trying to “layer” it in. In either case, remove soup from heat and let cool. Refrigerate overnight so it sets up.
To serve: stir in 2 tsp olive oil. Reheat on low flame or in the oven until hot enough to eat. Garnish with fruity olive oil.


Garlic Croutons/Crackers
If making soup is just too much, here's how you can quickly and effortlessly turn your leftover baguettes and rolls into yummy soup and salad croutons or bruschetta like crackers.

 Slice your not so fresh baguette into 1/4" pieces.
In a shallow bowl, combine a lg garlic clove minced with a pinch of salt and 1/4 c olive oil.  Dip the bread slices into the flavored oil, then lay them in a single layer on a baking sheet. To save clean up line the sheet with tin foil or parchment. Bake at 300º until they are dried out, golden and crunchy--30-45 minutes. If you don't have that many, you can do this in a toaster oven too.

These last a long time in a tightly lidded tin. You can pull them out for onion or puréed soups, Caesar or panzanella salad (recipe in earlier post), or use them like bruschetta. The other night I spread on herbed goat cheese and topped it with garlic roasted tomatoes. I've also done it with fire roasted peppers from a jar.

We'll continue this discussion later.
Up next, make celeriac feel at home.