Long before the coronavirus pandemic and its subsequent lockdown forced us all to rethink the way we look at and deal with food ingredients, food wastage has been on the top of the minds of many conscientious meal makers. Food ‘scraps’, those edible but unused parts of vegetables, fruit, meat, fish and poultry do not have to find their way into the garbage bin. Putting them there is really a waste of some of the nutritive value of the food as well as tonnes of flavour. If used intelligently, these food scraps have the potential to be converted into great dishes, filled with nourishment. Top chefs from around the world, including the late Anthony Bourdain, have created inspiring dishes from food scraps that would have otherwise sadly gone to waste. Wasted! The Story of Food Waste has greatly inspired us and helped us take on the challenge of eliminating food waste and reducing our expenditure on various artificial nutraceuticals.

So what comes to mind when you see cauliflower stalks, coriander stems, melon seeds, celery roots, red pumpkin peels, the bones and skin of meat, fish and poultry lying around on your kitchen countertop, chopping board or sink? We hope it’s not the garbage bin. In current times, when produce is difficult to come by, not because of scarcity but because we are making fewer grocery rounds, reduction of food waste is very important. Understanding this and learning how to safely cook with food scraps prolongs the use of the different food groups and stretches to the maximum every rupee we spend on our food.

All the food waste that ends up in the garbage bin and subsequently in a landfill is damaging to our environment because of the greenhouse gases it produces. To prevent this from happening, we have listed some easy hacks for you to use up all those food scraps in your kitchen. This is ‘root-to-stem’ cooking at its simplest and best.

Easy hacks to use your food scraps

Seeds

Seeds of white pumpkin, red pumpkin, cucumber, winter melon, musk melon, watermelon, sunflower, etc., can be washed, dried and roasted until crisp. They make for crunchy snacks and healthy additions to soups, salads, breakfast cereals, granola bars, muffins, seed butters and chikkis. Jackfruit seeds can be boiled and eaten plain or added to gravies, dals, kadhis and smoothies, or made into jackfruit-seed butter. Jackfruit seed flour can also be used in baking and for making rotis.

Roots and tops

Roots and tops of root vegetables such as yams, beets, turmeric, ginger, radishes, carrots, potatoes, sweet potatoes and turnips may not be the main parts of the vegetables but are still delicious, edible and high in nutritive value. Since these root vegetables grow under the soil, they absorb a large amount of nutrients from it. So you are wasting nutrients if you throw away the roots and tops. Collect them in a freezer bag or box, and use them in soups, sauces, juices, green smoothies and gravies. Beet greens are a perfect addition to Russian borscht. You can also blend them together and use them when you are making cutlets, kebabs, falafel and burgers. When cooked well, they also make a great addition to stuffed parathas, pulaos and chilas.

Stalks and stems

Stalks and stems of broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, mint, coriander, parsley and oregano should definitely not be discarded. Some of the stalks are tough and many stems can be bland or bitter. Just cook the tough stalks well and add them to the main dish or to a side dish, along with some crumbled cheese or paneer, lemon juice, vinegar, pepper, sea salt, olive oil, nuts and dried herbs. If you use only the whites of spring onions, please continue chopping the greens too, else you will have lost out on 50 per cent of its nutritive value. Leek tops can be chopped into bits and cooked until tender. We like to add them to omelettes, vegetable pulaos, stews and soups, or simply use them in place of onions. Broccoli and cauliflower stalks can be sliced and added to stir-fried vegetables, or grated and used to make fritters, frittatas and broccoli/cauliflower rice, or even spiralised just like you would courgettes, zucchini and carrots. The chopped-up stems of herbs and leafy vegetables will add so much more flavour to chutneys, raitas, pestos, hummus, sauces and dips. When used as garnish, they will provide that appealing look and satisfying crunch. When muddled, they will even uplift the flavour of your favourite cocktail and mocktail!

Leaves

Leaves of broccoli and cauliflower are another source of good nutrients. Wash them well, tear them into smaller pieces, toss them in a little oil, along with some sea salt and chaat masala or cracked pepper, and place them in a hot oven. Move them around occasionally, and 30 minutes later, you will have a bowlful of crispy chips.

Vegetable peels

Peels of citrus fruits such as oranges and lemons have natural essential oils, and a citrusy flavour and aroma. When you are done with extracting citrus fruit juice, you can zest the peels and use this in a variety of salads and bakery products. After that, you can try to incorporate bits of the peel into cold-pressed oils or vinegars to make amazing salad dressings and vinaigrettes that will provide a flavoursome punch to simple vegetables, steamed quinoa, thuli, lapsi or couscous. Else you can use the citrus peels along with the fruit pulp in marmalade, murabbas, compotes, sherbets, pickles and chutneys. Peels of apples and pears can be placed on a baking tray and allowed to oven-dry. Adding some oil or butter will ensure that they do not burn. They make a crisp, crunchy addition to stodgy oatmeal. Apple and pear peels can also be boiled in water to make delicious caffeine-free fruit teas. Candied citrus orange and lemon peels placed in a cup of hot water right before you place your tea bag will give you an amazing infusion to clean blocked sinusoids. Overripe fruits can be pureed and frozen to save them from ending up in the garbage bin. A scoopful of this puree can then be added to a pancake mix, cake/muffin batter or even to your morning smoothie.

The inner whitish portions of watermelon peels can be grated and made into a yummy side dish when tempered with mustard seeds and curry leaves. Else discard the outer dark-green skin, grate the whitish rind and make a sweet pickle, much like mango chunda. Or cut the rind into small pieces, place in a clean glass jar along with some cloves of garlic, sea salt, green chillies and oregano, top with water and allow the fermentation process to occur over the next few days. The tangy, spicy pickle that results should be kept in the refrigerator to retard further fermentation. Do try it for its probiotic benefits. Your gut will thank you for it.

Vegetable peels are another excellent source of vitamins and minerals. Nearly half the nutritive value of the foods is in the layer just beneath the peel. So if you are sure that your produce is not laden with pesticide residues, please go ahead and use the peels. If not, you can immerse food produce in salt water or a baking soda solution or a vinegar solution. Grated and, in some cases, subsequently steamed peels are a great addition to raitas, kachumbers, halwas, sheeras and phirnis. Beetroots, potatoes and sweet potatoes should ideally be cooked with their peels, provided that they are scrubbed well to ensure that they are free of soil. If, however, you must peel them, save the peels. Spread these in single, even layers over a lightly oiled baking tray. Add a drizzle of vegetable oil, some sea salt, herbs, chilli flakes and/or pepper and bake until crisp in a hot oven. These homemade crisps/chips are a healthy alternative to ready-made preservative- and additive-laden snacks.

Lentil and rice water

Lentil, rice and vegetable waters should also never be discarded. Use them to make the gravies of the main dish, add them to knead the dough for chapatis, rotis and parathas, or incorporate them in soups, broths and shorbas. Aquafaba is the viscous water in which chickpeas have been cooked. Save this water in a clean container and keep it in the refrigerator. Aquafaba can be used as an egg-white replacement in dishes such as meringues, mousses, macaroons, brownies, pavlovas and marshmallows. The viscous aquafaba mimics the functional and stabilising properties of egg whites.

If you love eating pickled gherkins, dill, green peppers and cucumbers preserved in brine, what do you do with the fermented brine? We encourage you to save it to add flavour to soups, liven up a bland hummus or salad, marinate meat or poultry or even drink a shot of it daily to improve the health of your gut. When meat is grilled over very high heat, a number of cancer-causing/carcinogenic compounds called HCAs are produced. Marinating meat in this fermented brine for a few hours before grilling it will reduce the amount of HCAs produced.

The post Root to Stem Cooking: How to Best Utilize Food Scraps appeared first on Complete Wellbeing.

Yes, we all know everything about water. Haven’t we been learning about it since we were little kids in school? However, you’ll be surprised to find the number of people who have come to me with problems that stem from not drinking water.

Dehydration affects our body in many ways, all of them bad.

Are you making the same mistake like this teen?

In a very drastic case, I once had a 17-year-old boy who was chronically constipated, had hyperacidity, and acne. He said he couldn’t drink plain water, barely managed half a glass a day, but was very happy to report that his overall liquid consumption was very high. He proudly informed me that he was consuming three and half litres of liquid a day. When my eyebrows shot up, he clarified that he had two litres of some aerated drinks, four cups of tea and three to four cups of coffee, apart from the odd glass of wine. I tried my best to explain that when the body needs to be hydrated, the best liquid is water. The caffeine in coffee, tea, and the aerated drinks was actually dehydrating instead of hydrating his system. He refused to drink plain water, so I put him on a therapeutic decoction of mint, parsley, ginger, lime, and honey, all added to three litres of water. He loved the taste, saw the difference it made to his bowel movement, skin and general health, and now says he has been converted for life.

What your body goes through without water

Water is one of the most important things that a human body needs to survive. So much so that your body actually has a drought management system, which prevents dehydration and hence ensures your survival. Water makes up more than two-thirds of human body weight, and without it, we would die in three to four days. Dehydration is one of the most common causes of daytime fatigue.

Water makes up more than two-thirds of human body weight, and without it, we would die in three to four days

Water acts as a lubricant in digestion and almost all the other body processes that take place daily. It also lubricates our joints and cartilages resulting in fluid movement. When dehydrated, the body rations water away from the joints, which means greater friction and aches of joint, knee, and back, which leads to injuries and arthritis. Water helps our bodies remove toxins in many different ways like it flushes toxins and waste from the body through urination and perspiration, it also helps in reducing constipation and aids in bowel movements, which ensures that waste removal is done quickly and regularly lest it becomes poisonous. This waste build-up can occur in the body if dehydration becomes a regular occurrence and this can cause headaches, toxicity, and illness.

Water therapy or hydrotherapy is treating an ailment with any form of water. Hot water, cold water, steam or water imbued with the therapeutic goodness of herbs, spices, fruits, and even condiments. While detoxifying or fasting, it is essential to drink more water so that the body can be cleansed of all the toxins that have accumulated.

Therapeutic water: The DIY kit

Making your own therapeutic water at home is very easy. Just remember to use a clean glass bottle and if you are going to be travelling with it, please put the bottle in a jute or cloth bag… your wine bottle bags will come to good use now!

To make your own therapeutic water, go through the chart below to identity your health condition and to decide on the ingredients you will need. Then simply add the ingredients to a litre of water, and let them soak in the water for an hour before starting to drink the water.

My advice would be to make just one litre of the therapeutic water. Drink from mid-morning till 7 pm. Keep adding fresh water to the bottle as it comes to an end. This way you will also be able to keep a tab on how much water you have had throughout the day.

It’s surprisingly simple but it works! Consuming therapeutic water daily is like the rich chocolate icing on a super yummy cake. It will not only remind you of drinking water daily, but also keep you in top shape! Remember, without good health, all your work will go down the drain.

Don’t forget to store your therapeutic water in a clean glass bottle and carry it along everywhere you go.

Excerpted with permission from Kitchen Clinic by Charmaine D’souza published by Random House.

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A kitchen garden doesn’t require a large plot of land. All you need is a windowsill, an unused corner, or even the stairs—these can all be turned into verdant little areas lush with fragrant herbs and veggies. Container gardens, windowsill gardens, and balcony gardens are good examples for people who live in metropolitan cities and have a paucity of space.

Where to begin?

Space: While planning on growing a kitchen garden, one of the most important things to consider is space. Even though there is not much space to garden in urban India, container-planting is a very easy solution to that. Mark out the area in your house that gets sufficient light and has the space to host a few pots and containers.

Plants: If your apartment is small, grow plants that are small. You don’t want a plant that grows up to six feet in your one-room apartment!

Lighting: Your garden must get enough sunlight, full or partial sun, to keep the plants healthy.

Seeds or saplings: You can either plant seeds [available at your local nursery] or saplings. Both will work.

Soil: Choose the right soil for your indoor garden. Some soils hold on to water while others are more porous. Ask your local nursery to help you with the type of soil, the amount of water and other such details.

Container gardening

Use plastic takeaway containers, old mugs, old buckets, and wire baskets for hanging smaller plants. Don’t throw away your empty cans and bottles. You’ll be amazed what you can grow in them. Don’t forget to make drain holes in all the pots.

When using small containers, make sure that the plants you grow don’t have large roots.

How to select which vegetables to grow?

The two important factors to consider are: which plants can thrive indoors, and which one you can use. Decide on the kind of vegetables to grow and plan your space accordingly. Choose vegetables and herbs based on your kitchen requirements, your knowledge of growing them, and the resources at your disposal.

Also, grow plants according to season. Planting vegetables as per the changing climatic conditions will ensure that there is a regular supply of vegetables throughout the year. It doesn’t make sense to grow a winter crop in summer, and expect it to thrive.

Herbs and vegetables you can easily grow at home

Chives
Chives are happy-go-lucky plants—you can grow them anywhere for they thrive in window boxes as well as gardens. They are best grown in full sunlight, but being hardy plants, they grow well in shade too. They will also grow well in almost any average, well-drained soil. Just keep in mind that when growing chives in containers, you need to fertilise them once a month and water the plant whenever the compost begins to dry out.

Coriander
Bury a few coriander seeds into a pot and keep watering it regularly with care. You’ll see the first bloom very quickly.

Curry plant
Curry plant makes a very nice house plant—provided you can give it plenty of sunlight. This plant will need supplemental light if you can’t give it six to eight hours of powerful light a day. If you do place a curry plant in a pot, make sure to add some sand to the soil for good drainage and water it sparingly. These plants prefer soil that drains well, sunlight, and warm conditions.

Garlic
The three things that you need for a healthy garlic crop are: a good sunny location, loose soil, and good drainage. Even though garlic doesn’t require any special handling per se, it can often contract a fungus [referred to as white or pink rot] in cool and damp climates.

Ginger
Get yourself a ginger root, one that isn’t shrivelled, and soak it in warm water overnight. The next day, fill a pot that has good drainage with potting soil and plant it.

Mint
Mint is easier to grow from a sapling than from seeds. Take a sprig of mint [make sure that the cut is below a node] and plant it in a moist but not wet pot. Mint likes shade and consistent moisture so don’t expose it to direct sunlight.

Spring onions
This is the easiest to grow. Take an onion that is sprouting just a little and plant it. Water it carefully and soon you’ll have fresh spring onions in your house. Harvest spring onions when their green tops are one inch
in diameter.

Tomatoes
The tomato remains one of the easiest and most successful vegetable plants to grow. Most tomato varieties only need well-draining soil and six to eight hours of sunshine per day. The soil must be kept consistently well watered. Depending on the mature height of the tomato plant, you may need cages or stakes to provide support for the plants.

Peppers
Pepper plant varieties include sweet bell peppers, chilli peppers, and banana peppers. Pepper plants need conditions similar to tomatoes: six to eight hours of sunshine per day and well draining soil. Also remember that they need to be watered at an even rate of one inch of water every week.

Tulsi
Tulsi seed is easy to germinate and grow. It prefers full sunlight, rich soil, and plenty of water. Tulsi does well in pots or window boxes. One thing to keep in mind about tulsi is that it needs a warm, humid environment to grow.

There’s no feeling quite like seeing the fruit of your efforts—that first leaf, the first vegetable sprouting… and then using your produce to prepare yummy meals. Now that you know, go for it. Try your first kitchen garden. But don’t forget: kitchen gardening takes a lot of time and commitment.

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Common Cold

A weak immune system—common among children—is the foremost cause of getting infected with this easily spreading virus. To avoid this, a wide variety of fruits and vegetables should be included in the diet.

Try this

Brew 2 tbsp of ginger juice +

1 tbsp of garlic juice +

a pinch of turmeric [haldi] +

2 green cardamoms [elaichi] in 100 ml water.

Bring to a boil and allow it to simmer for two minutes. Strain, add 1 tsp of rock sugar [mishri] and feed it to your child while it is still warm. Repeat 2 – 3 times per day until the cough and cold subside.

Fever

In children, causes of low-grade fever range from teething to immunisation. When a child has fever, the body temperature should be checked constantly and be kept under 100 degrees. If it crosses 100 degrees, the child should immediately be sponged with lukewarm water and should be wrapped in a woollen blanket until the fever subsides.

Try this

Dill seed [suva dana] decoction acts as the perfect alleviant in this condition. Roast 1 tbsp dill seeds along with 2 peppercorns and 1 tsp onion seeds [kalonji]. Boil this in 100 ml water for 3 – 4 minutes. Allow to steep for 10 minutes. Strain the mixture. Add 1 tbsp of honey and a pinch of cinnamon powder. The child should be made to drink it warm whenever the fever crosses 100 degrees.

Anaemia or iron deficiency

Anaemia is a common condition among children and teenage girls. A diet rich in iron is of utmost importance in order to aid health. The foods rich in iron include apricots, beans, cereals, dates, dark green leafy vegetables, eggs, red meat, lentils, and seeds. Iron is better absorbed when combined with vitamin C. Garlic and onions also assist with the absorption of iron. On the other hand, tea, coffee and colas prevent iron absorption.

Try this

Iron Man’s Secret juice

Blend together 20 black grapes [use soaked black raisins when fresh black grapes are not available] +

1 small bowl pomegranate +

2 tomatoes +

1 carrot +

10 spinach leaves +

Juice of 1 lemon.

Strain and drink fresh. You can add a pinch of rock salt to enhance the taste.

Indigestion

Children should not be allowed to stay for long on an empty stomach. It’s best if you feed them small meals at regular intervals. Make sure that they chew their food well and slowly, and should not drink large quantities of water along with the meals.

Try this

Make a mix of jeera, saunf, black salt and tulsi and store in an airtight container. Give your child 1 tsp of this mix after each meal and the indigestion will soon vanish.

Lethargy

Due to their highly active lifestyle and their improper diet, many children remain deficient in nutrition and are plagued by languor. As a result their studies and concentration levels suffer.

Try this

Add ½ lemon +

4 – 5 strawberries +

1 star anise to 1 litre of water.

Make the child drink it at regular intervals.

Nausea

Children are rash eaters and often fall prey to illnesses of the stomach. Many a times they feel nausea in such situations.

Try this

Mix 1 tsp coriander seeds and 5 sage leaves to 1 litre of water. Give the child sips of this water and it will alleviate the symptoms.

Diarrhoea

Diarrhoea is a dangerous ailment in children and needs serious and immediate attention.

Try this

Make a paste of ¼ tsp nutmeg, grated and powdered +

1 tsp jeera +

1 tsp saunf +

¼ teaspoon dried ginger powder [soonth] with 2 tbsp water.

Give them this mix thrice a day. This concoction also promotes good sleep.

Constipation

Improper bowel movement is common among children. However, it is necessary to regulate bowel movement lest it leads to further illnesses.

Try this

To bring constancy in bowel movements, give your child a mixture of coriander seeds, flax seeds and mint powder thrice a day.

This was first published in the September 2013 issue of Complete Wellbeing.

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