How to make a family meal out of garbage
Would you eat a meal made out of food scraps?
That's what Catherine Jheon and her husband were inspired to do after learning about the massive amount of food Canadians waste each and every day.
In Canada, $31 billion worth of food is thrown away every year — and nearly 40 per cent of all food in North America goes to waste. That's like going grocery shopping, buying five bags, and leaving two behind in the parking lot.
Their young ones were skeptical at first, saying "Garbage is disgusting!"
The family went to Toronto's Kensington Market to track down food that was about to be thrown out. They came home with their shopping bags full of things like old bread, nearly-rotting apples, and misshapen hunks of cheese.
With their haul, Jheon's husband assembled a three-course meal of pâté, savoury bread pudding, and apple crisp.
"It was delicious, I have to say," said Jheon.
Her kids mostly agreed.
Delicious or not, Jheon said that the experiment changed the way her family views food waste.
"I rarely throw anything out. Anything that needs to be used, I put it in the middle of the fridge so when I [see it], I can be like 'I've got to use that before it gets really mouldy!'"
Savoury bread pudding with old bread and cheese
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped or thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 cups 2-inch bread cubes (stale, old French bread is the best)
2-3 tablespoons chopped dill
3 cups chopped spinach or chard
2 cups grated cheese
1/2 teaspoon each: salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup milk
1 small can (220 ml) sockeye salmon, drained
Directions:
Heat the olive oil in a large nonstick sauté pan over medium heat and slowly cook the onions until they are soft and caramelised. This will take 20-30 minutes. Add the garlic halfway through cooking.
In a large bowl, toss the caramelised onions with the bread cubes, dill and spinach. Mix in 1 1/2 cups of the grated cheese.
Whisk together the eggs, milk, salt and pepper. Pour this mixture evenly over the bread cubes and stir until most of the egg mixture has been soaked up by the bread.
Preheat the oven to 350ºF. In a deep, eight-inch round or oval casserole dish that has been lightly rubbed with olive oil, layer half of the bread mixture. Break the salmon into chunks and spread evenly on top, then finish with the remaining bread cubes.
Press down lightly so that most of the bread is soaked with the custard. Sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup of grated cheese.
Bake the casserole, uncovered, for 45 minutes, until the pudding is golden brown and crisp on top. Cool 5 minutes before serving. Serves 4.
(Adapted from the Waste Not, Want Not cookbook by Cinda Chavich)