zero waste

Crispy Rice Salad

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One of my many faults is a total inability to judge the amount of rice I need to cook, which usually results in making enough rice to feed a small island nation.

As I hate food waste I was left with some leftover brown rice and decided to try a version of a dish I had once when travelling in Asia.  The results were yummy and I keep making this as it’s really versatile and you can swap around the veggies/herbs and protein to stop yourself getting bored with this.

If you’re  vegetarian/vegan you can swap animal protein for tempeh, nuts or tofu. I used a tahini dressing but again you swap this for a yoghurt dressing or just a plain vinaigrette if you prefer.

Serves 2-3

Ingredients

For the crispy rice

200 Grams Cooked brown rice

1/2 Tbsp Soy sauce

1 Tsp Sesame oil

1 Tsp Chilli powder (less if you prefer it less spicy)

Large pinch of garlic or onion powder

For the salad

150 Grams Edamame (soy) beans (I buy these frozen from the supermarket and just defrost them as I need them)

100 Grams Red Cabbage (shredded)

250 Grams Prawns (I used pre cooked frozen ones that I defrosted)

Spinach

1-2 Carrots (grated)

For the dressing

1-2 Tbsp Tahini

1 Clove of garlic (minced)

1/2 Lemon

Method

  • Pre heat your oven to 180 degrees (Celsius)
  • Line a baking sheet with foil (I do this to save on washing up)
  • Add the ingredients for the crispy rice to a bowl and stir well to make sure all the grains are coated. 
  • Transfer the rice to the baking sheet and smooth out evenly and bake for 20 mins.  Stir once or twice (the rice at edges of the sheet will crisp up faster).  The texture should be crispy but with a bit of chew to it (it shouldn’t  be so crisp you feel like you’re eating uncooked rice).  Once cooked, allow to cool before adding to the salad
  • To make the dressing, combine all the ingredients in a small bowl.  I usually add a couple of tablespoons of warm water to loosen the dressing, but it’s up to you, how thick you want the dressing
  • Add all the ingredients to a large bowl, and toss the dressing through and serve immediately

Ribollita

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I want you to keep an open mind.  When I first heard of this stale bread soup I thought hell no!

However, I had it when I visited Italy and I’m now a total convert, it was one of the best dishes I tried.  Like most popular Italian dishes, this is peasant food, and came about when servants would be given scraps that they would reboil into a soup.  Ribollita is actually more like a stew and is extremely satisfying and the perfect comfort food.  Each family has their own version, but the basic ingredients are a sofritto (this is a base of finely chopped carrots, celery and onion, I whizz mine in a food precessor when I can’t be bothered standing chopping). For the bread part, I used some stale ciabatta I had, other types of bread like French baguette would also work (not sure how ideal sliced white supermarket bread would be).

Italian Grannies save the rind of parmasan to flavour this, but I just added some of the grated cheese. If you want to make this a vegan dish you can swap this out for pine nuts. The beauty of this is that it is the original zero waste recipe.  Basically you use what ever you have and it’s perfect for using up those left over bits in your fridge.  You can also season with the flavours you like.  The original version I tried had fennel seeds, for the version I made at home I used oregano because it’s what I had.  Rosemary or basil would also work well, so feel free to experiment.

Serves 3-4

400 Mil Can Chopped tomatoes or pasatta

400 Mil Can Cannalini beans (set aside half the tin and mash with a fork, this will help mske the ribollita creamy, as with the other ingredients feel free to use whatever type of brand you have)

1/2 Tsp Chilli flakes

1 Tbsp Olive oil

1 Tbsp Tomato puree

100 Grams Stale bread (broken into 3-4cm chunks)

2 Handfuls shredded cabbage (I used savoy cabbage because this is what I had, but kale or cavelo nero also work well in this dish

500 Mil Vegetable stock

2 Carrots (finely chopped)

2 Sticks of celery (finely chopped)

1 Onion (finely chopped)

2-3 Cloves of garlic (finely chopped)

25 Grams Grated Parmasan (plus extra for serving

1 Tbsp Chopped fresh oregano (or 1 Tsp dried herbs)

1 tablespoon of red wine vinegar (or a splash of red wine if you have a bottle open)

Method

  • Heat the oil in a large pot, and gently fry the onion, celery and carrot over a medium heat for 2-3 minutes
  • Add the cabbage and tomato puree and fry for a further couple of minutes
  • Add rest of the ingredients and simmer for another 15-20 minutes before checking the seasoning
  • Ladle into large bowls and sprinkle with some grated parmasan (or whichever cheese you have)