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Root-to-stem cooking: A guide to sustainable cooking
Get the most out of your fruits and vegetables with root-to-stem cooking. This sustainable way of cooking uses the entire ingredient to help eliminate food waste. Keep reading to learn more about root-to-stem cooking and how you can get more than one dish and flavor out of your ingredients.
What is root-to-stem cooking?
Root-to-stem cooking is a way to utilize the entire fruit/vegetable in one recipe or across several recipes. This can help eliminate food waste and maximize nutrition and flavor in your cooking.
According to the FDA, an estimated 30% to 40% of the food supply in the United States is wasted, making food the single largest category of material found in landfills.
Root-to-stem cooking can help you fully use your produce by implementing peels, stalks, tops and skins into your recipes.
Why root-to-stem cooking matters
Wasted food is the single largest category of material found in landfills, according to the FDA, and emits a greenhouse gas called methane. This is one of the reasons why root-to-stem cooking is such an important, sustainable strategy to incorporate into the kitchen.
How to cook from root to stem
It’s important to know the different ways to cook the different parts of fruits and vegetables. Keep reading to learn how roots, stems, leaves and greens can add extra flavor to your recipes.
Cooking with roots
Root vegetables, including beets, potatoes, yams, turnips and carrots, can be used to build a meal around or as a snack on their own. Some of these vegetables can last for a while in the crisper drawer of your refrigerator. Some roots can be eaten raw (such as carrots or radish), while later season roots may be better roasted, as they can sometimes become more fibrous and bitter over time.
Cooking with stems
If you’re cooking with stems, make sure you’re using soft herbs, such as parsley, basil, dill, cilantro and mint. These soft herbs can be blended into sauces like pesto or chimichurri, or added to your salad for some crunch.
The stems can also be used in salad dressings or salsas—once blended, you won’t be able to tell the difference between stem and leaf. Of course, the most common use for stems is in homemade stock, as the stems will eventually be strained out. These leftover stems can help bring a flavor to many sauces, stocks or soups.
Cooking with leaves and greens
Carrots, beets, radishes and celery are common vegetables with leafy tops. You can often use these leafy greens in sauces, as a side or even chopped into salads. Try blending carrot tops to create a pesto, or sauté various greens as a side dish to any meal. If you don’t feel like cooking, you can also chop your greens and add them as a salad garnish.
Root-to-stem recipe ideas
There are so many ways to incorporate root-to-stem cooking into your recipes. Keep reading for root-to-stem recipe inspiration to help get started.
Carrot top pesto: Includes just the leafy green tops of the carrots but is often used as a sauce for the carrots themselves (usually after roasting).
- Broccoli stem slaw: Create a quick slaw using broccoli stems, carrots, apples and homemade dressing.
- Cauliflower leaf chips: Roast cauliflower leaves with olive oil and salt for a crispy, healthy snack.
Tips for getting started with root-to-stem cooking
Now that you’ve learned more about root-to-stem cooking and gotten some recipe ideas, keep reading to get tips on how to get started.
Try pickling leftover produce: Get additional shelf life out of your fruits and vegetables by pickling your produce. This can add bright, briny notes to your leftover produce and can be great as a cocktail garnish, salad zest or on a cheese plate. The general rule of thumb is to use three parts vinegar, two parts water and one part sugar or kosher salt, depending on your food and recipe. Customize your pickling by adding a seasoning of your choice.
Freeze ingredients you don’t plan on using right away: Save tops, stems, peels and more by freezing these items. This can be helpful if you don’t have a current use for them or want to save them for a future soup stock recipe. Learn more about freezing vegetables and how long they last in the freezer.
Make a soup stock: You can save leftover vegetable scraps in the freezer until you have enough to make a stock. Once you have enough, take the scraps and place them into a pot. The water to vegetable ratio may vary but you generally will need a quart of water for every pound of vegetables you use. Simmer your water, vegetables and seasonings for about an hour before straining. You can use your soup stock right away or freeze it for later.
- Compost anything you can’t use: If you’ve exhausted all other resources on your food scraps, you can try composting, which uses certain organic food leftovers (such as vegetable peels or egg shells) to help enrich your garden soil. You can compost in your yard or enroll in a composting program to help make the process even easier. Be sure to read up on composting before diving in.
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