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Love your leftovers
26/12/2009
Leftovers: the Christmas conundrum. This week should be about enjoying the festivities and preparing for Hogmanay, not slaving in the kitchen, so put your Christmas feast leftovers to good use and cut down on food waste too.
This will also leave more time for Christmas sale bargain hunting - or exchanging that odd Christmas gift.
If sandwiches are as much as you think you can muster, then be surprised by easy to use recipes for a boxing day curry, risotto or casserole.
The Love Food Hate Waste website has lots of ideas from leading Scottish chefs including Nick Nairn, Tony Singh, Tom Kitchin, Lady Claire Macdonald and Martin Wishart. Eating fresh, seasonal produce can really add to the flavour of your leftovers and this year well over half of Scots will be buying local for their Christmas dinner.
Scottish restaurateur Tony Singh, co-founder and Head Chef at Oloroso and Roti, says that using Christmas leftovers is a great way to effectively reduce food waste.
Tony Singh said:
"A big part of Christmas and the whole festive period is eating. Christmas is a great time to cook amazing meals for the family. The problem is that we all tend cook more food than is actually needed. My spicy turkey and prawn toast recipe is just one of many ways to use the leftovers from Christmas dinner.
"The Love Food Hate Waste website contains many quick and simple recipes that you can use for leftovers. When Christmas comes round and we all know we will be preparing lots more food, it helps to have a few ideas for any food that gets left uneaten.
Environment Secretary Richard Lochhead said:
"This year we discovered that Scottish households waste £1 billion of food each year, which shocked us all. Smart thinking is needed in order to reduce our food waste, benefitting both our pockets and environment.
"Making a considered shopping list for essentials and using leftovers are two effective ways of tackling this. Recipes like Tony's and the many on the Waste Aware Scotland website show that interesting dishes can be made easily with leftovers as the key ingredient.
"Unlike Santa, it's not just at Christmas we should be making our shopping list and checking it twice, but a good habit for all year round."
Dr Nicki Souter, Waste Aware Scotland Campaign Manager says:
"It's a staggering thought that the average Scottish household throws away £430 per year on food that could have been eaten, simply because we forget to use it or cook too much.
"Christmas is a time when even more food is being prepared, so planning a few meals around leftovers is a great way to save money and avoid food waste. Recipes like Tony's are great for using up leftovers and our website offers more tips and recipes to help you make the most of your food. For example, if you're concerned about unexpected guests, make sure the extra food you buy can be stored in your freezer; that way, you can take it out when you need it and if it's not used over Christmas, it can be enjoyed at a later date.''
Recipes
Spicy Turkey and Prawn Toast - Courtesy of Tony Singh
6oz peeled prawns
8oz turkey cut into strips
2 eggs
1 clove of garlic
½ tbsp ginger
2 tbsp coriander
2 spring onions
1 tbsp fish sauce or soya sauce
1 red chilli finely chopped
½ teasp salt
1 ½ teasp black pepper
8 slices white bread
Sesame seeds or bread crumbs
Oil to shallow fry
1. In a food processor, mince the prawns and turkey with the egg. Process until a coarse mince
2. Add the remaining ingredients (except bread, oil and sesame seeds) and process until you have an even paste-like mixture
3. Spread the mixture onto the slices of bread making sure that the mixture is evenly distributed
4. Sprinkle each slice with a few sesame seeds and cut 4 triangles
5. Heat the oil and fry the triangles a few at a time prawn and turkey side down until crispy and brown - great served with a lime and ginger dipping sauce
Savoury Scottish Salmon Fishcakes by Scottish Women's Rural Institute member
350g leftover potato, mashed
Any leftover bacon or cheese
175g Scottish Salmon (finely copped)
3 spring onions
1 tbsp chopped parsley
1 egg yolk
Breadcrumbs (for coating)
1. In bowl mix together the mashed potato, Scottish Salmon, spring onions, egg yolk and parsley. Season well (a little mustard gives a warm kick)
2. Divide the mixture into eight and shape into round flat cakes and coat in breadcrumbs.
3. Fry gently in 4 tbsp of olive oil for about 10 minutes (or until golden brown) turning once.
Food Waste Facts and Figures
- Scottish households throw away 566,000 tonnes of food waste every year.
- Over two thirds of food waste, 69 per cent, could have been avoided if it had been more effectively planned, stored and managed.
- Avoidable food waste costs Scottish households nearly £1 billion a year. That's the equivalent of £430 per household, for families with children it's £550.
- If we stopped wasting all this food, we could prevent the equivalent of 1.7 million tonnes of carbon dioxide each year in Scotland - roughly the same as taking one car in every four off Scotland's roads.
Love Food Hate Waste
Love Food Hate Waste is a nation-wide initiative developed by Waste Aware Scotland, in partnership with the Waste and Resources Action Programme, to encourage the Scottish public to be more waste aware in its attitude to food. It has the backing of leading Scottish chefs including Nick Nairn, Tony Singh, Tom Kitchin, Lady Claire Macdonald and Martin Wishart.
The campaign focuses on four key areas to help reduce food waste - planning and preparation, storing food, recipe ideas and portioning. The campaign website www.wasteawarelovefood.org.uk offers a collection of hints, tips, recipes and advice from Scotland's best loved chefs and food writers.
The Love Food Hate Waste campaign and the reduction of food wastage plays a crucial role in achieving the wider aims of Greener Scotland to improve Scotland's natural environment and the sustainable use and enjoyment of it.