Vegetable scraps? Turn them into a meal!
Wait! Stop! Don’t throw away the scraps from your asparagus just yet—you can easily make a delicious soup with them. And those potato peels? You can quickly turn them into a crispy snack.
Asparagus
You’ve eaten asparagus the classic way, but still have the scraps (the peels and ends) left over? For example, make a stock from the asparagus peels by bundling them, as in this recipe from De Librije. Or follow asparagus chef Jan-Chris Krabbendam’s tip and make asparagus soup by boiling the ends, puréeing them, passing them through a sieve, and then adding your other flavorings, such as cream, garlic, and onion.
Parsley and coriander
You usually only use the leaves, but the stems are perfectly edible too. Parsley stems are especially good in fish soup or dressing. And coriander stems are great in a curry. You can easily cook the stems along with the rest; they become a little softer and add flavor to your curry. Or toss the stems in with your stir-fried vegetables—it’s certainly a better destination than the trash.
Potatoes
They do it more often in America: eating crispy potato skins. If you leave the skins completely intact, you can fill them with cheese and bacon as in this recipe. But if they’re no longer whole, you can simply roast them and enjoy a tasty snack; here’s how. Got leftover mashed potatoes? Or do you have whole potatoes left but don’t know what to do with them? Read even more tips here.
Pumpkin
Just like potatoes, you can also eat the skin of a pumpkin. Okay, not every type of pumpkin, but definitely Japanese kabocha, winter squash, butternut squash, and green kabocha. For example, use the skin in your pumpkin soup. Or roast the whole vegetable in the oven; this softens the skin so you can simply eat it too.
