No more veggie waste: not now, not ever!

I buy too  many vegetables.  You probably do too.  We have good intentions at the grocery store, so we pick up the celery, broccoli, bell peppers, and spinach that we would all eat tons of, in an ideal world.

But then we get home, stow those veggies safely in the drawers of our fridge, and the real world happens.  Our friends invite us to dinner, so we end up with restaurant leftovers stacked precariously around the veggies.  We get home late a few nights after work, and suddenly a pre-made vegan chik'n patty sounds much easier and more delicious than a home-cooked veggie stir-fry.  I get it.  We all do it.

So, how do we responsibly use those leftover vegetables in the No Waste Vegan Place?  I've organized some ideas in order of how difficult I think they are:

1) EASY:

Pasta with Jarred Pasta Sauce and Veggies
Lots of leftover veggies, chopped
1 cup vegetable broth (preferably homemade, but I'll get to that later)
Spices of your choice (think Italian - basil, garlic, oregano, etc) plus salt and pepper to taste
2 servings of pasta
Jar of pasta sauce, preferably with veggies already in it

Throw your veggies in a pan or skillet over medium-high heat with some vegetable broth (preferably homemade - but I'll get to that later) and spices until they're tender.  

In the meantime, cook your favorite pasta in another pot according to the package directions, and strain.  

Dump pasta back into its pot, add your tender veggies, and stir in some pasta sauce from a jar.  Voila! Who ever said pasta isn't good for you?  Add some Daiya cheese and vegan Italian sausage if you're wanting a more comfort-food feel for this pasta dish.  

If you're up for a little higher level of difficulty, make a vegetable lasagna.  It's similar to what I've just described above, just more structured and with more "cheese" (yummmmm....)

(For this pasta, I used 1 cup homemade vegetable broth, 1/4 large sweet potato, 1/2 jalapeño pepper, 1/4 large tomato, two Field Roast Apple Sage Vegan Sausages, Muir Glen Garden Vegetable Pasta Sauce, and Barilla Whole Wheat Spaghetti)

2) EASY: Vegetable stir-fry.  In a pan of heated oil or cooking spray, saute your chopped leftover vegetables in the order of their required cooking times; i.e., put in the denser vegetables (like carrots) first, and the most delicate ones (like spinach) last.  Since we're going for "easy" here, forget the rice.  It takes too long, unless you have minute rice, in which case, more power to you.  Serve your stir fry over pasta or drained, heated canned beans instead.

3) MODERATE: Vegetable broth.  In my kitchen, homemade veggie broth is the holy grail of the No Waste principle.  While the rest of the ideas in this list call for the edible portions of vegetables, my homemade vegetable broth is made from the inedible (or unappetizing) scraps - think onion peels, spinach stems, garlic skins.  I save all of the vegetable scraps from my cooking in a large tupperware container in the freezer.  Over a week or two, the container gets full and I make vegetable broth with it.  Easy peasy:

Homemade Vegetable Broth
Trust me, you'll feel like a total badass

Large pot of water, 2/3 full
Lots of leftover vegetable scraps (let's say roughly 6 cups)
Spices (I usually use some combination of Tony Chachere's salt-free seasoning, black pepper, bay leaves, thyme, oregano, and rosemary.  It's hard to go wrong)
Large bowl
Strainer
Towel


Boil the pot of water, add the scraps and spices.  Return to a boil, and let cook for 20-30 minutes, until the water has turned a nice brown color and smells amazing.

Set up a large bowl underneath a strainer, and put a towel inside the strainer.  Pour the pot of scraps and broth over the towel, so the broth fills the bowl underneath but the scraps are caught in the towel.  

Now you have delicious homemade vegetable broth, and you'll never want to buy the canned kind again.  Some notes on making this broth:

-Boiling longer will not extract more flavor. 
-Some scraps to avoid: brussels sprouts, celery, corn, cauliflower, broccoli, turnips, rutabaga.
-Only use vegetable scraps that have not spoiled.

Full disclosure: I originally got the idea to make my own broth from this blog.

4) MODERATE-DIFFICULT: Bake your veggies into a loaf of bread.  I really like Robin Asbell's recipe for veggie loaves in Big Vegan, but the recipe only calls for a couple vegetables.  I like to get creative with it, and add a ton of whatever vegetables I have in the fridge, chopped up in the food processor.

 (Sorry I don't have a better picture - this is while the loaves were rising the second time)

Veggie Loaves
Adapted from Big Vegan by Robin Asbell

2 packets active dry yeast
1/4c warm water 
1/2 tbsp agave
6 cups flour (I like using whole wheat, since this bread is so healthy already)
1/4 cup soy flour or vegan protein powder
2 tbsp gluten flour
2 tsp salt
1.75 cups unsweetened, nondairy milk of your choice
1/2 cup olive oil
About 2 cups chopped vegetables (the original recipe calls for carrots, scallions, and spinach, but I use whatever I have on hand).  Try to get the vegetables as "dry" as possible.


In a small bowl, gently combine active dry yeast, warm water, and agave.  Let sit until yeast is "activated" (bubbly, foamy), for about 10 minutes.


In a large bowl, combine 4 cups of the flour with the soy flour, gluten flour, and salt.


In a small saucepan over low heat, warm milk and oil (do not allow to become very hot).


Pour the warm milk mixture and the yeast mixture into the flour mixture and stir.  Knead the dough until it is supple and not sticky, adding the remaining two cups flour little by little as needed.  When the dough is well mixed, knead for 5 minutes more, or until it's springy.  Add the vegetables and knead them in until they are well distributed (I like to do this on a large cutting board).


Transfer the dough to an oiled bowl and let rise in a warm, draft-free place for 1 hour OR until doubled in bulk.  IMPORTANT:  doubled in bulk is doubled in bulk - if it's been an hour and the dough hasn't fully doubled, wait until it has.


Preheat the oven to 350F.  Oil two loaf pans, or two baking sheets, depending on what shape of bread you want.  


Punch down the doubled-in-bulk dough and transfer to the loaf pans or baking sheets.  Let rise on top of preheating oven for 45 minutes to an hour.  Bake for about 30 minutes, until well browned on top.  When tapped, the bread should sound hollow.


Let the bread cool for 10 minutes (if you can wait that long before digging in!!! I sure can't), slice, and serve.

5)MODERATE-DIFFICULT: Make a vegetable tart or pot pie.  Difficulty level depends on whether you make your own pie crust or use vegan store-bought crust.  I highly recommend making your own, but if easy is what you're going for, you really can't beat a premade pie crust.

I like making mini pies, because they're so adorable and easy to eat, serve, and take to work.

Miniature Vegan Pot Pies

Muffin pan

Cooking spray

Double pie crust (either homemade or store-bought)

About 3 cups vegan creamy sauce (I like the sauce used in this recipe)

Vegetable broth or olive oil 

Loads of chopped veggies of your choice, plus 2 cloves minced garlic

Spices of your choice (I usually use a combination of tarragon, rosemary, thyme, oregano, salt-free seasoning and pepper)

About 1/2 cup Daiya mozzarella "cheese" - highly recommended but not absolutely necessary

Note:  If making your own crust, I highly recommend the olive oil double crust from Vegan Pie in the Sky by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero.  I like to make it with whole-wheat flour.  If you're buying your crust, pick whichever frozen or refrigerated crust is vegan.

Preheat oven to 425F.

Roll out each pie crust into a flat circle, and use a cup or bowl with a 4-inch diameter to cut 12 circles out of each larger dough circle.  You'll probably have to recombine and re-roll the dough a few times to get 24 circles.  It's okay if some circles are smaller than others - those can be the "tops" of the mini pot pies.  Prepare the muffin pan by spraying first with cooking spray, and then filling each muffin space in the pan with a 4-inch dough circle.  Set aside.

Prepare the vegan creamy sauce and remove from heat.

Cook your vegetables and garlic in heated broth or oil until mostly tender.  It's okay if they're not fully cooked, because they will soften up in the oven.  Don't let the garlic burn!  Add it toward the end.  Season with spices of your choice. 

Combine creamy sauce with vegetables and Daiya cheese, if using.

Fill dough cups with creamy vegetable filling, and top with remaining dough circles.  Cut or poke holes into the top dough circles so the steam can escape.

Bake at 425F for 15 minutes, followed by about 20 minutes more at 350F.  The pies will have golden brown tops and bubbling filling when they're done.

It's important to keep your eye on these little pies while they're cooking, because cooking times can vary wildly between different ovens.

Remove from oven, cool slightly, and eat!

 

6) MOST DIFFICULT-NEAR IMPOSSIBLE: Stop buying so many veggies.  Keep track of how many vegetables you ACTUALLY eat for several weeks, and then adjust your shopping habits accordingly. 

I hope I've given you some ideas for using up those leftover veggies!  Honestly, if all else fails, you can start a compost or freeze most vegetables indefinitely... there are no excuses for food waste in the No Waste Vegan Place!