Loving left-overs

If you have read some of my previous posts you might have noticed that I am a huge love of buying in large quantities. Scoring a whole bag of fresh veggies while keeping the spending to a minimum secretly gives me a huge feeling of satisfaction. This can sometimes become a problem because I only get to cook for a small amount to people. This sometimes causes me feel guilty when I return from the market and I see I have bought a bit (read: way) too much veggies and fruits. I always consider it a challenge to be as creative as I can and use every kind of product in multiple ways. For example lets take a large bag of sweet, red bell peppers. There are so versatile that you can cook with them all week while not getting tired of their taste. The first day you can marinate them in olive oil and balsamic vinegar and serve with and Spanish tapas. While you do then the next day you can chop them up and use in an Asian stir-fry with Shezuan pepper. Or feeling them raw mixed through a salad or pureed in a soup. The possibilities are (as good as) endless. Here in the Netherlands we throw about 50 kilos of food on average every year away. These are just the products which are bought yet thrown away because they are off cuts or considered as too much. The products thrown away because they have expired are not taken into account. It's a shame to see how much love and care is usually given to growing food and yet how little we take this into account. Therefore, it is such a small chore to bear this in mind the next time you are considering chucking out food. Perfectly ripe pears, for example, a product which many people throw out when they get a little bruised. However, they are still perfectly fine to use when making a delicious pear tarte tartin. Preserving food which has been prepared but left-over can be re-used the next day like bits of meat from a roast. Chuck it on a sandwich or toss it in your salad. A little bit of spices or a fresh dressing will work wonderful!