Why let healthy vegetable scraps go to waste? With a little creativity, they can become the stars of your meals, boosting your health and helping the planet breathe easier. Carrot tops can transform into zesty pesto, broccoli stems add crunch to salads, and potato peels make healthy crispy chips.
Not only does using vegetable scraps reduce food waste, but it also stretches your grocery budget and adds mojo to your meals’ nutritional value. Even wilted greens can be blended into smoothies or sautéed for added flavour.
Boost nutrition and flavour
According to Siphokazi Mdlankomo, a celebrity chef and entrepreneur from Cape Town, you can use vegetable scraps like carrot tops, celery leaves, potato skins, onion skins, and garlic skins to make a flavourful vegetable stock.
She says this saves money, reduces your climate footprint, conserves natural resources, and promotes healthier eating.
“This is another way to prevent food waste.”
Chef Siphokazi Mdlankomo
Mdlankomo says you can also grow new plants from leftover vegetable seeds or off-cuts that sprout over time.
“Trim the ends of the vegetables to allow them to take up fresh water and start to regenerate roots,” Mdlankomo advises.
She also suggests minimising food waste by using leftover vegetable stalks for smoothies. When blended with other ingredients, they add nutrition and flavour. Moreover, vegetable scraps can be used as natural dyes, perfect for food colouring, notes Mdlankomo.
Retaining nutrients and limiting food waste
According to registered dietitian and founder of Dietitians24, Kulani Mtileni from Polokwane, Limpopo, vegetable skins are some of the parts we rarely emphasise in nutritional health.
He explains that minerals are not all lost when food is cooked, but vitamins B and C are generally lost when food is boiled. Therefore, we need to include vegetable scraps in some dishes to retain the nutrients we tend to throw away.
“The good news is that vitamins B and C are abundant in foods we like eating raw or lightly cooked.”
Mtileni says the exact nutrient content of homemade vegetable broth will depend on the types of vegetables used, how long they are simmered, and the specific nutrients present in those vegetables.
“Homemade vegetable broth can be a nutritious addition to your diet and can provide some vitamins and minerals from the vegetable scraps used to make it.”
Dietitian Kulani Mtileni
He notes that some nutrients are more heat-sensitive than others and may degrade during the cooking process. Vitamin C, for instance, is sensitive to heat and can be partially destroyed during cooking. On the other hand, some nutrients are more stable and may be retained in the broth.
READ NEXT: How to reduce food waste in your kitchen
Benefits for your health
Mtileni says some vegetable peels we could use for their health and nutritional benefits include:
Celery leaves: Just like the rest of the plant, celery leaves are full of anti-inflammatory antioxidants. They even contain more vitamin C than the stalks. You can add them raw to salads, chop them up for a flavourful garnish, or cook them in soups and stir-fries.
Leek greens: It turns out that greens are an excellent prebiotic (food that supports a healthy gut microbiome). They also contain folate, a B vitamin essential to many body processes, including methylation. Leek greens can be toasted or sliced, and they make a delicious alternative to kale chips.
Beet greens and stems: Not only do beets add colour and texture, but they also contain vitamins A, C, K, and magnesium. The chopped bulbs can be mixed with stems and tossed with salt to add to salads or blended into smoothies.
ALSO READ: How to make your own compost with kitchen scraps
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Scrap veggie broth recipe by Zovuyo Vika
Ingredients
- Onion stem, bottom and skin
- Carrots stem, bottom
- Celery leaves
- Mushroom stem
- Cabbage leaves
- Pepper core
Instructions
- Put boiled water in the pot.
- Throw all the washed vegetable scraps into the pot.
- Cover the mixture and cook it on medium-low heat for a minimum of 2 hours.
- If it evaporates quickly, add extra water as needed to continue cooking.
- Strain the vegetables from the liquid using a strainer and funnel and transfer the liquid to a jar or container.
- Add salt to taste or any other seasonings you prefer.
- Serve it hot with bread of your choice.
- Any leftovers can be stored in the freezer once cooled off.
Storage: Frozen vegetable stocks can be stored for a month when there is no power outage.
Alternative: Vegetable stocks can be used to add flavour to stews, grain dishes, marinades, salad dressings and sauces.
