Stop Food Waste Day
Veggielicious
We buy delicious, nutritious, colourful vegetables to eat with most meals, yet they often come to an unhappy end in a lot of Irish households with 41% of people saying vegetables are one of the foods they waste the most. How can you keep your vegetables as ‘veggielicious’ as possible for longer, we hear you ask?
Well, we’ve put together some easy, practical tips around buying, storing and freezing your vegetables that will help save you time and money while reducing the amount of vegetables you throw out. Sounds like a win? Then read on…
We know it’s not revolutionary but the first easy step is to only buy what you need. Know the vegetables you plan to eat during the week and buy the amount you need. Pre-packed potatoes come in lots of different sizes, so think about how many you plan to use before you choose. Or consider buying frozen spinach rather than fresh as its great for adding just what you need when cooking or making smoothies. For some of our most well-loved vegetables, for example carrots, when at the shop buy whole ones that haven’t been cleaned or cut as they have a longer shelf life.
Once you get home, storing your veggie treasures correctly will help keep them veggielicious for longer! Store carrots loose in the vegetable drawer of your fridge, if your broccoli came in plastic, leave it wrapped, poke some holes in the film for air circulation and pop it in the drawer of the fridge as well and for tomatoes, store them in the open air, not the fridge (yes, tomatoes are technically a fruit but as they are in the same family as the potato we thought we’d include them here😊).
And if plans change or it looks like you just won’t get to use up all your veggies during the week, fear not, as lots of different fresh vegetables can be frozen. Chop, blanch, drain and freeze carrots and broccoli, and they’ll keep for up to a year. Did you know that potatoes and mushrooms freeze better when cooked in advance? Or that freezing chopped, raw onions makes for a super handy midweek meal ingredient!
One of our favourite tips to save you time and reduce vegetable waste is to brush or scrape carrots and parsnips instead of peeling them. You’ll also retain the nutrients in the skin, which is another plus. You can extend this to potatoes (taking into account how you will be cooking them) and even young turnips.
There are plenty more tips on not just the veggies name-checked above but many other different types as well, in our A-Z of Foods so take a look and help your vegetables stay veggielicious!
We’d love to hear about the veggielicious steps you’re taking. Maybe you have your own top tips to share with us using #stopveggiewaste on social media?
Find us on:
#StopFoodWaste #Veggielicious #StopVegetableWaste #StopVeggieWaste