Delicious or Waste: The Leftover Conundrum

Many people think that when food is wasted, the waste is limited to what was on the plate. However, producing and delivering food requires tremendous amounts of resources – including energy and water. Therefore, whenever food is wasted, all resources attached are also wasted.

An effective way of preventing food waste is reusing leftovers to create new dishes. Reusing leftovers not only prevents waste but also contributes to your food budget. Here are some tasty and simple ideas for
re-creating dishes with leftovers.

1- Practical Soup Recipes

Leftovers (especially vegetables from Asian dishes) can be combined with broth and spices to create delicious soups. To take the taste up a notch, don’t hesitate to experiment with garlic, fresh herbs, rice, ginger coconut milk or soy sauce.

2- Delicious Fried Rice

Leftover rice is a perfect base for delicious dishes. Mix your leftovers with cooked rice in a pan and stir. You can add some water or broth to moist the mixture. Stir until leftovers are cooked down to a delicious sauce.

3- Simple Casseroles Recipe

Using leftovers is an incredibly simple recipe for tasty casseroles. Simply mix the leftovers with cooked pasta (rice will also do) and add cheese as topping. As everything is cooked, baking at 180C until the top is golden will suffice.

4-  Zero-waste: Burritos to Tortilla

Leftover burritos are definitely a great way to use leftovers. Using spicy dishes such as Asian or Indian works best. Simply wrap up your leftovers in along with vegetables of your choice, or serve leftovers in a tortilla with fresh spices.

5- Delicious Sauces

Leftover veggies are an excellent base for tasty sauces. Boil the vegetables in broth with spices of your choice. Once boiled, use a hand blender to puree the mixture.

Or just be creative. Leftovers can be used for a wide variety of recipes. No matter the recipe, using leftovers prevents food waste, saves money and time.