What can I do with....? The food waste reduction thread.

[DragonsFriend]

Re: What can I do with....? The food waste reduction thread.

Roses and herbs love their poo ... And you can herd chickens ... sorta ...

Well, you can at least pen chickens up and still have happy chickens. I've spent too many years as a leader in too many Pagan organizations to think about herding cats.

[Jembru]

Re: What can I do with....? The food waste reduction thread.

Help! Got myself a big stack of dried seaweed. I asked JP to pick up some konbu along with a few other bits and pieces at the oriental supermarket. Instead he came back with what looks like a Chinese version of nori, only in thicker sheets and circular (about the size of a side plate). It's not as firmly pressed either so crumbles too easily for wrapping onigiri.

Any ideas? Besides crumbling it over rice, or just eating raw as a snack, I'm at a loss. It It's surely circular for a reason because its a wasteful shape to cut from sheets. So that makes me think it has a specific use maybe.

Also, got half a large bulb of fennel that needs to be used up. I've been adding it to roast veggies and stir fries but can't think of anything else to do with it.

[Tylluan Penry]

Re: What can I do with....? The food waste reduction thread.

In Wales we eat seaweed known as lava bread. We mix it with oatmeal, make it into little cakes and fry it in bacon fat. Delicious. Search for it on Youtube - lots of suggestions there last time I looked.

[Briton]

Re: What can I do with....? The food waste reduction thread.

You shouldn't use chicken muck 'raw', it should be allowed to rot and become more 'soil' like. Because their much is 'combined', it is nitrogen high and can damage soil organisms and plants.

[Jembru]

Re: What can I do with....? The food waste reduction thread.

In Wales we eat seaweed known as lava bread. We mix it with oatmeal, make it into little cakes and fry it in bacon fat. Delicious. Search for it on Youtube - lots of suggestions there last time I looked.

Just had a quick look and assuming my seaweed is the same species from which nori is made, then it is of the same family as lava (they're both Porphyra sp.), so I imagine this will work! The videos I've found are using fresh lava though, so I imagine as mine is dried, it won't need to be boiled for so long.

I also won't be able to use bacon fat sadly. I'll have to experiment with various veggie options that are solid at room temperature.

I'll definitely give it a go though, so thanks for the tip!

[Rae'ya]

Re: What can I do with....? The food waste reduction thread.

Just had a quick look and assuming my seaweed is the same species from which nori is made, then it is of the same family as lava (they're both Porphyra sp.), so I imagine this will work! The videos I've found are using fresh lava though, so I imagine as mine is dried, it won't need to be boiled for so long.

I also won't be able to use bacon fat sadly. I'll have to experiment with various veggie options that are solid at room temperature.

I'll definitely give it a go though, so thanks for the tip!

Have you tried rehydrating it? It might just go mushy, but it's worth a try to see if that's what you're supposed to do with it. Otherwise I bet you could do whatever you like with it... it'd be nice just crumbled into any sort of veg mix, pie filling or stirfry.

Also, and the bacon fat alternative... I doubt you'll get the same flavour from a vego option. I'd just use plain ol' butter ('cos I love to fry stuff in butter) but if that's not vego enough then maybe coconut oil? It makes things taste a bit coconutty, but not in an overpowering way. It's solid at room temps and seems to be the latest trend in alternative diet fads at the moment (paleo et al). I'm not personally convinced it's the superfood it's supposed to be, and I have no idea about the ethics or sustainability of it... but it's an option.

[Jembru]

Re: What can I do with....? The food waste reduction thread.

Have you tried rehydrating it? It might just go mushy, but it's worth a try to see if that's what you're supposed to do with it. Otherwise I bet you could do whatever you like with it... it'd be nice just crumbled into any sort of veg mix, pie filling or stirfry.

Also, and the bacon fat alternative... I doubt you'll get the same flavour from a vego option. I'd just use plain ol' butter ('cos I love to fry stuff in butter) but if that's not vego enough then maybe coconut oil? It makes things taste a bit coconutty, but not in an overpowering way. It's solid at room temps and seems to be the latest trend in alternative diet fads at the moment (paleo et al). I'm not personally convinced it's the superfood it's supposed to be, and I have no idea about the ethics or sustainability of it... but it's an option.

I thought butter might at least give it a rich fatty taste. I thought about adding a dash of spice to the mix, but not sure if that would be considered sacrilege! Coconut oil is an option too I guess, but I somehow feel the butter might be closer.

I'd have to rehydrate the seaweed anyway to make the lava bread, so I was going to leave it to soak before I go to bed in the morning and see what I wake up to! Depending on how it goes, it might make a good alternative to wakame in miso soup too.

[DanieMarie]

Re: What can I do with....? The food waste reduction thread.

Help! Got myself a big stack of dried seaweed. I asked JP to pick up some konbu along with a few other bits and pieces at the oriental supermarket. Instead he came back with what looks like a Chinese version of nori, only in thicker sheets and circular (about the size of a side plate). It's not as firmly pressed either so crumbles too easily for wrapping onigiri.

Any ideas? Besides crumbling it over rice, or just eating raw as a snack, I'm at a loss. It It's surely circular for a reason because its a wasteful shape to cut from sheets. So that makes me think it has a specific use maybe.

Also, got half a large bulb of fennel that needs to be used up. I've been adding it to roast veggies and stir fries but can't think of anything else to do with it.

I sometimes buy thick, dry seaweed for stir fries and soups. I soak it to rehydrate it and then add it to whatever I'm cooking. It's tasty!

[Jembru]

Re: What can I do with....? The food waste reduction thread.

I sometimes buy thick, dry seaweed for stir fries and soups. I soak it to rehydrate it and then add it to whatever I'm cooking. It's tasty!

Is that not wakame though? Would the form you buy it in rattle if you shook the container? Or is it pressed into sheets and toasted?

I wrote a few days ago in the diet and spiritual practices thread I make it a rule to routinely eat seaweed (I'm kinda self-medicating with it but that's a different story). This is sometimes nori but I also do as you describe with wakame a lot too. That is sold as hard curly strands that are almost black in the dried state and not pressed together, and it makes kinda rubbery yet tender, flat leaves when rehydrated.

The stuff I'm talking about is the algae that grows on rocks making them slippy at the beach so has a very different texrure. It has a crunchy and crumbly texture when dry so I'd rather keep it in that form in salad (I've tasted it and it's exactly the same as nori.. I'd go so far as to say it IS nori in fact). Stir fries though... I'd have to try both ways and compare I guess.

I've soaked it and it rehydrated in seconds and was edible right away so doesn't need the hours of boiling the wild-gathered lava needs! I didn't have any oatmeal though so haven't tried the lava bread yet!

Also, the water went pink! What? Why?

[DanieMarie]

Re: What can I do with....? The food waste reduction thread.

Is that not wakame though? Would the form you buy it in rattle if you shook the container? Or is it pressed into sheets and toasted?

The stuff I buy is in sheets. It comes in a soft plastic bag packed flat, like nori. It's just thicker. It may be whole pieces, though. I'm not really sure. We don't really have a lot of options here, so I just take what I can get.

Edit: I do sometimes put nori in soups and stir fries as well. I just don't rehydrate it first. It's thin enough that it absorbs the liquid as I cook the dish.

[Jembru]

Re: What can I do with....? The food waste reduction thread.

The stuff I buy is in sheets. It comes in a soft plastic bag packed flat, like nori. It's just thicker. It may be whole pieces, though. I'm not really sure. We don't really have a lot of options here, so I just take what I can get.

Edit: I do sometimes put nori in soups and stir fries as well. I just don't rehydrate it first. It's thin enough that it absorbs the liquid as I cook the dish.

That sounds EXACTLY the same as the stuff I'm talking about then! I've just crumbled it into a stirfry and it's really good, but I was too nervous about adding the rehydrated stuff. I'll try it next time though for sure!

[DragonsFriend]

Re: What can I do with....? The food waste reduction thread.

Would steaming the dry sheets rehydrate it? If so there wouldn't be a water mess - pink or otherwise.