A Guide to Using Every Last Bit
I’m a firm believer that there is no such thing as “food scraps.” I also believe that once you see the world of use you can get out of every last morsel of an onion, a beet, a whole chicken, a head of broccoli, an orange, or an egg (just to name a few), there is simply no going back! You will never look at food that same way. Now, this can easily transition from a new realm of use and possibilities, to a source of guilt that you accidentally discarded onion skins that could have been used for broth or egg shells that could have been used for compost. We hope that this guide can be used to strengthen and expand your tool belt when it comes to cooking and reducing waste, and not put the weight of global food waste on your shoulders!
My direct introduction to “scrap-conscious” cooking was the repurposing of the skins and butt-ends of onions, garlic, and carrots for the flavoring of vegetable stock. I watched chefs and home cooks alike scrape these things I had always seen as “trash” into a bag or container for “future use”. It shocked me that such seemingly insignificant (and often seemingly inedible) pieces of our food could be repurposed to make something as flavorful and versatile as vegetable stock. Once I began to explore what other gems I was casting away into the bin, I realized onion peels and carrot butts were just the tip of the iceberg. Broccoli stems, chicken bones, egg shells, beet tops, pineapple cores, orange peels, even walnut shells! As the list grew, I realized that the benefits of using up every last bit were also more abundant than I originally imagined.
If you’re looking for motivation to use up that which you may have called “scraps” in the past, consider this: Using every ounce of your food helps reduce a ton of waste—literally! The average American produces a metric ton of food waste every 9 years. Other than discarding food you and others may have been able to eat, you’re also discarding the time, energy, and resources that went into growing, picking, shipping, and maybe even packaging it! Now is a good time to remember: this should not be a source of guilt, but a source of motivation if you have the means! But beyond “waste”, this outlook toward our food can and should be seen as a source of opportunity.
Using the “extras” gives you the opportunity to stretch your dollar a heck of a lot further (think of the stocks, salad greens, sauces, butters, and flavorings you’ll no longer need to buy). Using the “extras” gives you the opportunity to explore a world of new foods and new cooking processes! Never made a pesto? A yearning to use up your beet greens gives you that chance! Never made bone broth? The leftover carcass from a chicken you’ve broken down gives you that chance! Using the “extras” also gives you the opportunity to explore flavors you’ve never tasted, that have been right at your fingertips all your life. Did you know that the greens from the top of a shoot of lettuce are incredibly herbal and a bit peppery? Or that the core of a pineapple tastes like sugarcane? Or that broccoli stems and cauliflower cores can be sautéd to release a rich umami? Or that corn kernels can be cooked with spices to produce a delicious tea? There really is a whole world of flavors of foods out there, and like ours, you may never see the whole thing. But beyond all of this—the waste reduction, the money saving, the new foods and flavors—this outlook builds comfort and confidence in the kitchen. It helps build an intuition with our food, an intuition that can inspire endless creativity and joy in the kitchen (and I don’t care how corny that sounds).
So, maybe you’re feeling motivated to put every ounce of food to use, but where in the world do you start? It can be tough to know what to do when you don’t even know what you’re looking for! Next time you’re breaking down some vegetables or meat or fruit (or anything) and you have a pile of scraps next to you, consider a couple of question you can ask yourself:
Why don’t I typically eat this? Have I ever tried eating this? Is it inedible?
Can this be processed (pickled, candied, juiced, zested) or preserved?
Can this be used to flavor (infusions, cooking into broths)?
Can this be used as plant food (either directly or through composting)?
The answers may be unknown to you, but if you’re not 100% sure, we encourage you to look into it! You may find yourself down a rabbit hole that has led you to cuisines across the globe, and cooking processes that have existed for millenia.
Now, we couldn’t possibly cover the potential uses for every single piece of every single conceivable food on this planet—obviously. But, we can offer a guide to help push you in the right direction! Check out some common food categories below to see how you might use every last bit!
Vegetables:
The skins are often edible, but if not, can be saved and used to flavor stocks.
The butt-ends and cores are sometimes edible, but if not → stocks
The greens from the tops can be used as salad greens and/or greens for things like pestos.
Anything that can’t be used for any of the aforementioned uses can essentially always be used as plant food! Compost is typically the safest bet here.
Fruit:
The skins/peels are often edible, but if not, can be saved for infusions, preserved, candied, or used as garnishes, and if nothing else → compost
The butt-ends and cores are sometimes edible, but if not → compost
Animal:
Many organs that are not commonly eaten are completely edible, and often considered delicacies in cultures around the world. This includes things like the heart, brain, kidneys, bone marrow, liver, tongue, and stomach lining (tripe). These are typically packed with nutrients, and if prepared properly, can be incredibly delicious.
Organs and other tissues that are either too difficult to retrieve or stuck to the bones can be used as additional flavoring for stocks.
The bones and other carcass structures (cartilage, skin, etc.) can be used to make hearty bone broths that absorb every ounce of flavor and nutrient from the bones (and any connected tissues). These bones can then be dried and crushed/ground before being… you guessed it, composted.
Fat, either from large fat deposits connected to the muscle tissue, or from smaller deposits stored within the muscle tissue and attached to the skin, can be rendered out (by cooking, which essentially melts it), collected, cooled, stored air-tight for future use as butter.
Nuts:
The shells can be crushed/ground and added to compost!
If you’re feeling extra ambitious, certain nut shells can be used as flavoring-smoke for things like meats and cheeses.
Fish:
The skins/shells/bones can be used to make rich umami broths, then dried, ground, and composted.
Starches:
Potato skins are full of nutrients (and are delicious) and can be consumed!
The water you cook your potatoes/corn/beans/pasta/rice in is full of starch that can be used to help thicken sauces, or even as bases for hearty soups.
Eggs:
The shells can be crushed/ground and used to enrich soil with calcium!
Do you know of anything we missed on our list? Let us know! We’ll add it right away :)