Food Waste Friday-12.12
I suppose I should apologize for how perfectly focused the disgustingly moldy orange is...that's what happens when you have a rockin' camera. 😉
The moldy orange isn't really my fault, but I'm including it anyways. I had the oranges on the counter in a bag, and one of my children somehow managed to open the bag and dump all the oranges onto the floor. I thought I picked all of them up and put them in the fridge, but this one rolled between the counter and the wall, and it stayed there for a while. Ahem. I only found it when I was down on my hands and knees washing the floor(and that doesn't happen very often!).
I did waste something besides the orange(and this is my fault!)...
Yup, it's the ever-popular cilantro(which has shown up in my food waste photos just a few times before 😉 ). What you see in the picture, though, is only about half the bunch. I was about to throw it all away, and then I realized that some of it was still good. So, taking the advice of a reader, I chopped it up and put it into ice cube trays. I then filled the tray with water and put it in the freezer. I think I could use this when I'm making something like tortilla soup(at least I hope so!).
At any rate, I did at least try.
How did you do? Link us up below!
That orange is awesome.
With mostly bad herbs, I usually pick off the gross parts and throw the rest in the vegetable-leavings-for-stock bag I keep in the freezer.
Hmm...I wonder if cilantro would make good stock.
I've never had a problem w/ cilantro in stock before. But everyone is different w/ that herb.
Okay, I linked, even though I haven't done a Food Waste Friday. I promise I'll do one this week! (I didn't get at first what I was doing. I'm a little slow.....)
Cilantro freezes really well and then you can use it in chili or soups.
cilantro will last much longer if you store it out of a bag in your salad spinner in the fridge. It might dry out a little but it won't rot.
Ok, the moldy orange is definitely bad.
But here's an idea for using part of an *orange rind*.
I did this today. I had part (maybe an eighth) of an orange (organic) and the rind was leftover. It was sitting in the kitchen sink for a while, then I was making my "leftover soup"--the one I make with the stuff that's been sitting in the fridge, artfully combined with chicken stock and some other ingredients. I decided to try blending up the orange peel section with the soup--into tiny bits-- and incorporated it into the cumin-scented soup, along with some lemon juice.
It was great!
Also, I slice off some orange zest into coffee sometimes when I am brewing it. It's very nice in coffee.