Derby City Council Provide Residents for Recipes to Help Reduce Christmas Leftovers

Derby City Council Provides Residents with Recipe Ideas for Their Christmas Leftovers

Derby City Council has taken a revolutionary approach to encouraging people not to waste food this Christmas; they’ve printed recipes on the back of their festive bin collection timetables which will help residents make use of their leftovers, instead of throwing them in the bin.

The council say they are trying to help reduce the 7 million tonnes of food waste that ends up in landfill in the UK each year by suggesting recipes for using up common Christmas leftovers, especially things that people don’t necessarily like to eat, like brussels sprouts.

The leftover recipes

Vegetable Curry

Ingredients:

1kg mixed vegetables

3 onions, peeled and roughly chopped

1 clove garlic, peeled and chopped

1 tin chickpeas

1 tin chopped tomatoes

1 tbsp. tomato puree

300ml vegetable stock

400g rice

1 tbsp. curry powder

How to make it:

Combine all the ingredients except the rice in a large saucepan, add the vegetable stock, and mix well. Bring the mixture to the boil, reduce the heat, and allow it to simmer, stirring it occasionally. Cook for 30 minutes until the vegetables are tender and the stock has reduced, and the sauce is nice and thick. Cook the rice according to the instructions, and serve with the curry and a warm naan bread.

Turkey and Cranberry Spring Rolls

Ingredients:

200g turkey leftovers

1 stick of celery

½ red onion

50g cranberry sauce

8 mangetout

½ carrot

½ small leek

2 tbsp. soya sauce

8 sheets of spring roll pastry

1 egg in 20ml milk

Sunflower oil and salt

How to make it:

Cut all the vegetables into strips and mix them together. Heat a non-stick frying pan, add a tablespoon of oil then sauté half of the vegetables for 2-3 mins. Put the vegetables into a colander over a bowl to drain off the oil fat, then do the same with the rest of the veg. Mix the turkey and vegetables together, then season them with the cranberry sauce. Put a pastry sheet on a clean worktop, then spoon 2 tablespoons of the turkey mixture in the centre of the pastry sheet diagonally, leaving a 4cm gap at each end. Brush the corners and sides with the egg. Fold in the ends of the pastry and roll it up firmly to secure the filling. Repeat with the remaining pastry and turkey. Shallow fry the spring roll in a small amount of oil until the pastry is golden and has a crispy texture.  

Chocolate Fondant Pudding

Ingredients:

125g dark chocolate 70%

125g butter

150g caster sugar

50g Christmas pudding

3 large eggs

35g plain flour

How to make it

Melt the butter over a low heat in a saucepan. Remove it from the heat and add the chocolate. Whisk the eggs and sugar together until they are well combined, then add the flour. Stir both mixtures together and add the Christmas pudding. Pour the mixture into buttered moulds, like pudding basins, then bake at 190 degrees for 10-12 minutes. The centre of the pudding should be runny.

Reduce waste this Christmas

The council say they are working with Love Food Hate Waste to promote the simple recipes for leftovers, so they can reduce waste and save money this Christmas.

They are also going to be doing more to promote this cause over Christmas to show people that what’s left of their party food doesn’t have to go in the bin either.

The council usually has an eco-friendly drive at Christmas, and their campaign last year was encouraging people to recycle their Christmas trees by making items like coasters.