FoodSavvy Recipes
Search using the categories below or try these simple waste-busting recipes first.
Southern Indian Style Banana Peel Chutney
This chutney would be the perfect accompaniment to Southern Indian dishes or even cheese or meat dishes. It is best made with organic banana peels, but for non-organic bananas, soak the peels in 4 parts water and 1-part white vinegar for 20 minutes before rinsing. Keep for yourself or give as a gift.
Fruit Peel Vinegar
Not sure what to do with leftover fruit peel? We have just the remedy in a delicious fruit peel vinegar. This makes an amazing set of gifts if poured into pretty bottles and an amazing base for a salad dressing.
Spicy Pickled Watermelon Rind
This is the perfect watermelon waste buster and tastes great with both Mexican and Japanese food, actually it takes great with everything.
Peri Peri Sauce
Just like the Colonel’s secret blend, Nando’s peri peri sauce is one of the most hotly debated recipes on the internet. Our fakeaway versions uses the whole lemon to reduce food waste and the flavour really bangs. Use this sauce to marinade leftover veg, chicken or fish, nom nom nom.
Burger Sauce
Love a Maccy D’s? This homemade take on the famous burger sauce recipe will have you shouting ‘I’m lovin’ it.’ What’s more you will likely have most of the ingredients in your store cupboard ready to rock, including those sauce bottles with just a little bit left.
Fizzy Pink Onions
These fermented onions make a great tangy, crunchy accompaniment to anything from a curry, to a burger or sandwich. They go a lovely shade of bright pink which makes them look as cool as they are good for you. This is a great way of preserving ingredients for future use when you have a glut of onions. This is a good way to use up any spare onions, or even to cut off a green shoot and give them a new lease of life.
Fermented Carrot Sticks
These aren’t just carrot sticks, but supercharged, probiotic ones, and a great way to use leftover carrots and preserve them for the future.
Spiced Pear Chutney
Make a chutney in the autumn and it will see you through the winter and into the spring. Good as a gift for your grandma or to serve with your cheese and crackers.
Spiced Apple Chutney
Make a chutney in the autumn and it will see you through the winter and into the spring. Good as a gift for your grandma or to serve with your cheese and crackers.
Ginger Pickle
Ginger pickle is a simple but delicious pickle that goes well with dosas. It is popular in the Andhra Pradesh in the South-East of India.
Pickled Red Cabbage
Delicious pickled red cabbage, a great accompaniment to a ploughman’s or a Sunday roast. Also a great way to preserve leftover veg, to stop it going to waste.
Lemon Pickle
A quick and easy pickle that is ready to eat almost immediately. Three lemons will make enough for a small jam jar. Buy lemons that look like they have a thin skin.
Apricot Harissa
Harissa is an ultimate cupboard staple. Just a little goes a long way. Swirl it through yoghurt, dollop it on top of a hearty salad or use it as a marinade—the options are endless.
Irish Soda Bread
Soda bread is a variety of quick bread traditionally made in a variety of cuisines in which sodium bicarbonate is used as a leavening agent instead of the traditional yeast.
Glamorgan Sausages
Glamorgan sausage is a traditional Welsh vegetarian sausage for which the main ingredients are cheese, leeks and breadcrumbs. This is a great use for leftover bread.
Buttermilk
Buttermilk makes tender cakes, quick breads and biscuits, and works with both sweet and savory flavors. It is a common ingredient in baking, though not always easy to get your hands on. But no need to down tools and race to the shop. Buttermilk is simply an acidic liquid in your baking, and it’s easy to knock up a sour sub.
Homemade Herb Butter
Home-made butter is incredibly easy to make, delicious and easily customised with leftover herbs such as parsley, tarragon or chives.
Kefir
Kefir is a drink made from milk which has been fermented with kefir grains. Kefir grains are a Symbiotic Culture of Bacteria and Yeasts (or SCOBY) and are used as a ‘starter’ to kick off the fermentation process, available in health food shops.
Kefir is packed with good bacteria, which helps fight off the bad bacteria in your gut and is good for digestion. You can try a vegan version, using a plant-based milk instead, but keep an eye on your grains as they will not stay active as long.
The drink originated around 2,000 years ago, and is thought to have hailed from the Caucasus. It is said to have been invented by shepherds roaming the Caucasus Mountains, who would carry milk around in their goat skin pouches in the sun all day. After a while, the milk had fermented slightly.
Basil and Lemon Sorbet
A zingy and aromatic basil and lemon sorbet which is great to serve with fresh strawberries.
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