Cork chef shares tips for a Zero Waste Christmas

THIS year, approach the Christmas feast with an eye to maximising all your festive resources while creating foods packed with cool twists and features that makes the most of every euro spent.

Practicing Zero Waste means identifying where food waste may occur and thinking of innovative ways to prevent it from happening.

At its most successful, every interaction with food is considered - even before we hit the shops - by looking at what is already to hand, thinking consciously about how much food you really need per person, where leftovers or waste is likely to happen and pre-planning how to make the most of everything.

Planning for a Zero Waste Christmas will ensure you spend the right amount of money on the right amount of food, all while delivering up a feast to tantalise and satisfy everyone’s appetites.

Best of all, a Zero Waste Christmas is good for us, good for the environment, and maximises spending power by doing more while spending less.

To get the best advice on how to achieve all these goals, I turned to innovative Cork chef, Ali Honour, a leading voice for Zero Waste in her role as a chef-activist with the ‘Beans Is How’ campaign for the international advocacy group, Chef’s Manifesto.

“As a committed conscious chef, I champion a Zero Waste approach and prioritise sustainable goals that extend beyond the kitchen,” says Ali.

The festive season is fast approaching and that means too much stress, worry and the daunting food shop where three weeks’ worth of shopping is done in one week.

Food waste at Christmas is 15 times higher than for any other celebration, all of which contributes to emissions, 26% of which globally comes from food waste. A third of all food produced is wasted, and regularly 800 million people around the world are fighting hunger. With this in mind, we all should do our bit to minimise food waste as much as possible.

“Bad planning and human error contribute to much of this food waste,” explains Ali.

“Many people say they threw away far too much food and shouldn’t have bought so much, but then forget or get so overwhelmed by overthinking that they just revert and press repeat.”

“Have a think about all the food you bought last year, make a list of what you throwing out, and cost it. Was it ready-made things for convenience, or just too much food? By avoiding those pitfalls this year, you are automatically cutting down on food waste and saving money.

“I’ll show how to enjoy your Christmas dinner, and all the days ahead, well fed in a Zero Waste way. With a little planning and by utilising everything, you can be proud to start celebrating the perks of a Zero Waste mindset with a few simple steps.”

Where to begin? Ali says start with asking yourself three simple questions.

How many people are you feeding on Christmas Day and Stephen’s Day?

Can you commit to only buying Irish produced or farmed meat, vegetables, and dairy?

Can you only eat the meat you buy for the dinner and utilise all of it without buying more?

“If you can commit to answering these three questions, you’re already thinking in a Zero Waste way,” says Ali.

“Connect with the food you buy. No-one likes to be judged by their food choices, but supermarkets encourage overeating and over-packaging by pushing attractive pricing and the image of convenience. At Christmas, these are especially ultra-processed ready-made foods and snack foods; the kind of things thrown in the trolley without even thinking about it,” says Ali.

“The truth is, any food we buy can be jazzed up and made to look festive – even foods we might consider ordinary or larder staples. I love finding ways to put more beans onto our plates, and a few cans of different types of beans can quickly make a nutritious meal or bulk up leftovers while being incredibly affordable and sustainable. They come in all different colours too – red, green, white and black.

Putting beans with cranberries, vibrant herbs, and some seasonal brightly coloured veggies, like squashes or carrots, make for a super festive-looking meal.

“I have included ideas to incorporate beans into your meals in the days post-Christmas day. You will find they go a long way with other ingredients and add lots of great flavour and texture.”

The easiest way to stop food waste happening at Christmas is to start thinking about it before you even head out to the shops. Use Ali’s cut-out-and-keep checklist ( see graphic, below) for building your Zero Waste shopping list.

Tips for Zero Waste Recipes

Much of what we think we must buy at Christmas time could be made from what has been bought on the Zero Waste Shopping List ( see graphic above).

“You don’t have to buy those things,” says Ali, “because you can make them from ingredients you already have without having to buy more.

“Thinking in a Zero Waste way means you can really push your creativity by encouraging you to think what flavours go together.”

These are Ali’s top Zero Waste hacks that are great for Christmas treats and all year round, too.

Crisps can be made from washed veg peelings, baked in the oven and seasoned using herbs and spices from your larder.

Chutneys can be made from saved raw veggie off-cuts. Make them throughout the year and build up a stockpile of different veggies and flavours, or make a quick chutney one week before Christmas.

Pickles – there is more than one way to make a pickle! Quick pickling using a salt rub and vinegar takes minutes, or make a quick hot pickle from raw veggie off-cuts, using heated vinegar, salt, sugar and whole spices such as mustard. Try making a fermented pickle, such as kimchi, which works great with Irish-grown winter vegetables.

Chocolate cake can be made with store cupboard chocolate. Add veg peelings or a drained can of black beans to up the nutrition content.

Snacks and canapes can be made with everything you already have in, especially if you have some good bread and ready-to-use shortcrust or puff pastry. Just pile lots of tasty things on top!

Dips using fresh herbs, yoghurt, veg and beans. Pick flavours that go together and whizz in a blender until smooth.

The Problem of Leftover Veg

Sometimes it seems no matter how well you plan, there is always either too much leftover veg or too many vegetables purchased. Focus on what to do with leftovers can be on what to do with the meat, but what about those veggies?

Ali shared some great ideas already for things like crisps, chutneys and pickles, but what else does she have up her sleeve?

Bubble and Squeak

“Bubble and Squeak is a hash of leftover potatoes and vegetables such as cabbage, sprouts and carrots. It’s delicious served with mustard, homemade pickles and a fried egg on top for breakfast, brunch, lunch or even a lazy dinner.”

Comforting Turkey and Bean Soup

“Turkey breast meat can dry out easily, or you might find you’re left with the leg meat, which is more flavourful. Make a simple soup stock with onions, carrot, celery, and herbs, add in a tin of beans (cannellini beans work well here), and warm through the turkey meat. The soup will rehydrate the meat and make it silky and soft. 

The beans will add some heft to the dish, and fresh herbs added just before serving will bring some vibrancy. Perfect for a post-walk warm-up.

Turkey, Lentil and Chickpea Curry

“A dahl is an aromatic and spiced Indian lentil dish that is easy to make, full of flavour, nutritious and, when paired with leftover turkey, a can of chickpeas and some coconut milk, is a real bargain dish that can stretch to feed many. Plus, it’s a huge improvement on the time-honoured post-Christmas turkey curry!” says Ali.

“Naan bread is a traditional accompaniment to Indian dishes, but did you know you can make your own using boiled potatoes cooked down with butter and spices (cumin, chilli, turmeric).

“If you’re making your own naan bread, layer the spiced potato mix in the naan dough before cooking. If using ready to eat naans, sprinkle with water, warm in a dry pan, and top with the spiced curried potato mix.”

Ali Honour regularly hosts workshops and pop-up events showcasing Zero Waste food alongside Conor Spacey whose book, Wasted, (€15 from www.blastabooks.com) is full of great recipes and ideas for Zero Waste cooking. Keep up to date with Ali at www.ali-honour.com.