What’s in Season For March?
As we march on the months of a hectic 2022, we still persist on helping you make the most out of seasonal ingredients each month.
Developing recipes can be a long process, especially in the kitchen. In hopes to make things a little easier, we try to be inventive and diverse with the ingredients we choose and develop zero waste recipes that hope to inspire creativity.
For our lineup this month, we’ve not 4, but 5 incredible ingredients! Avocado, pineapple, green cabbage, rhubarb, and cucumber were selected to showcase how delicious and amazing these fruits and veg can be. Stay tuned for the delicious AND zero waste recipes that we’ll be releasing each week!
avocado
What makes this recipe delicious?
Does one need to explain why pesto is delicious? Why pesto is arguably the best pairing with anything? So versatile in its uses, you could put pesto on anything, and it’d taste good. Eat it with bread and pasta or mix it in a salad. The possibilities are pretty much endless.
What makes this recipe zero waste?
Unfortunately, avocado seeds and skins are not edible for us to eat (unless you really wanted to. But that is 100% not advised). That being said, it makes this recipe naturally zero waste as you use up all of the avocado flesh! You can germinate and plant the seed if you like or create ornaments, candles, and mini plant pots with the skin as well. If not, don’t forget to compost all your organic waste!
Food storage tip: If your avocados are unripe, you can leave them out for a few days until they soften. If you want to speed up the ripening process, place it together with all your other fruits and it will ripen together! Once they’re ripened you can store in your fridge for a few weeks, and they’ll stay relatively fresh. If you just use a half of an avocado, you can put the avocado cut-side down in a container and store in a couple centimeters of water or lemon juice to stop the oxidation.
Creamy Avocado Pesto
- Prep Time: 2 min
- Total Time: 2 min
- Serves: makes 1 jar
pineapple
What makes this recipe delicious?
This dish is classified in the category of flavour bomb. Pineapples in season are super sweet and slightly tart and sour, which goes perfectly in this recipe. The aromas of spices and seasonings harmoniously collide with the pineapple, creating a sweet, sour, spicy, and salty fried rice that will please all cravings. This recipe is perfect for a meal prep or feeding a crowd.
What makes this recipe zero waste?
Pineapples are pretty difficult to cut because of the nature of its shape and spiky outside. Though trimming is necessary and leaves inedible trimmings, many people throw out the core because it might be tough to eat. For this recipe, you can chop it finely/smaller so that it cooks down and softens more and prevent the wastage of perfectly good pineapple! If you don’t want to put it in the fried rice, you can always freeze it and put it into smoothies or blend it up and utilize it as a marinate as the enzymes in pineapple can help tenderize meat.
Food storage tip: You can leave pineapples on the countertop to ripen. The yellower the fruit, the riper it is. You can also smell the bottom of the fruits and make sure it’s producing a pineapple aroma. If it is still greenish gray, you can leave it out for longer till it changes color.
Pineapple Fried Rice
- Prep Time: 15min
- Total Time: 40 min
- Serves: 4-5 people
cabbage
What makes this recipe delicious?
This recipe is delicate and warming, which makes it a perfect recipe for when we still have colder days in March. The mix of herbs and spices, the umami of the mushrooms, and the heartiness of the lentils create a symphony of robust flavours.
What makes this recipe zero waste?
Many recipes suggest cutting the thicker stem part of the cabbage. But that isn’t necessarily necessary. By cooking it for long enough, the cabbage will naturally soften anyways, which makes trimming quite wasteful. In addition, if the whole head of cabbage isn’t used up, you can slice thinly and prepare it in an easy salad or soup.
Food storage tip: Cabbages can last in the fridge for quite a while – up to 10 days. Make sure you keep it in the fridge compartment with higher humidity or keep it in a bag to prevent water loss and drying out.
Vegan Cabbage Rolls
- Prep Time: 10min
- Total Time: 45 min
- Serves: 4 people
rhubarb
What makes this recipe delicious?
Though strawberries may not be in season, frozen strawberries are always in season. The sweetness of the strawberries paired with the sour, tanginess of the rhubarb creates a sense that the ever so yearning of summer is soon to be at our fingertips. Enjoy this on a nice sunny day and you’ll forget winter even happened!
What makes this recipe zero waste?
As much as I wanted to use rhubarb leaves in this recipe, I eventually talked myself out of it. Rhubarb leaves contain a high amount of oxalic acid, which causes mild gastrointestinal problems and in some rare cases, kidney stones and failure so it’s best to leave that out. However, rhubarb stems/stalks are edible and delicious! And we can use all of it!
Food storage tip: First wash the rhubarb and get rid of any dirt or discoloration. You can freeze it for up to 9 months, but as for the fridge, you should wrap it in a wet towel and place it in a bag and keep it for up to no more than 2 weeks.
Easy Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble
- Prep Time: 5min
- Total Time: 35-40 min
- Serves: 6 people
cucumber
What makes this recipe delicious?
So refreshing and filled with umami flavours. Smashed cucumber salad is a staple side in Chinese cuisine and can virtually go well with any dish you pair with it. However, don’t limit it to just Chinese cuisine. Try it with some Western dishes and find an unusual combination of East and West!
What makes this recipe zero waste?
Luckily, this week, our ingredient is a one-veg-eat-all kind of ingredient. Meaning you can eat the whole thing! How amazing! By using only a handful of staple pantry ingredients, we level up the humble cucumber into a mouthwatering dish.
Food storage tip: Wash the cucumber and wrap with paper towels and keep in a container in the fridge. This method will keep the cucumbers relatively fresh for 1-2 weeks. As for this recipe, it’s best to eat it within the next 2 days as the cucumbers will continue to release moisture and the sauce will be diluted and the cucumbers won’t be as crisp.
Chinese Smashed Cucumber Salad (拍黄瓜)
- Prep Time: 35 min
- Total Time: N/A
- Serves: 6-7 (as a side dish)
Our recipes will be released weekly. In the meantime, we invite you to learn more about food waste prevention in the link provided!