Food In the Spotlight - Making food go further

Whilst at the Café our creative cooking teams are always brilliant at finding inventive ways to turn excess food into delicious dishes, at home it’s not always so easy to find the time or the inspiration!  So we thought it would be helpful to share a few ideas to help keep your food as fresh as possible for longer and ways to turn surplus product into future feasts – especially useful for those of you talented enough to have produced a home-grown bounty from allotments or veg patches this summer!

Let’s start with keeping food fresher for longer…

• First up, berries – keep them juicy by soaking in diluted white vinegar (three parts water, one part vinegar) for 5 minutes to remove bacteria and mould spores, then rinse thoroughly, pat dry and store in the fridge in a ventilated container with paper towels – it can extend their lives for up to two weeks.

• Next, our old friend, bread. If you find yourself with too much in the breadbin, simply cut into slices and freeze so you can grab what you need when you need it. Or dice into cubes, oil. season and bake for home-made croutons.

• Too much broccoli or cauliflower? Wrapping it in foil and storing the fridge can help it last up to 4 weeks longer. Or blanching it before freezing extends shelf-life and preserves colour, flavour and nutritional value – pop in a resealable freezer bag once done and it’ll last for several months. Many veggies can in fact be blanched and frozen in the same way.

• And who knew that storing apples with potatoes stops those ears from sprouting! The ethylene gas from apples helps keep our super-versatile spuds fresher for up to eight weeks.

• Lastly, keep your onions in old tights – odd yes, but popping them into a pair of thin tights, tying a knot between each onion and storing in a dark space can prolong your onions life for up to a whopping eight months!

When it comes to making the most of a food bounty, there are lots of ways to turn excess produce into store cupboard staples.

• For veggies, making and freezing batches of soup is a no-brainer (see our Recipe of the Month for inspiration!).

• Fruits can be pureed and frozen in ice-cube trays and then added to smoothies, shakes, infused water etc as you need them. Transforming summer fruits into jam, chutney and preserves is a TRJFP super-skill – have a chat to Friday ETNA volunteer Gilly for inspiration on the best-tasting recipes ever!

• Pickling, fermenting, canning and dehydrating are all great ways of helping food last longer. It can feel intimidating at first as you do need some kitchen kit and have to make sure your storage jars are sterile - but the process (and results!) can be remarkably satisfying once you’ve taken the plunge – and there are plenty of members of TRJFC team to share their tips and experience with you.

Any great tips and ideas for feeding bellies not bins? Inspire TRJFP community by adding your ideas on our Instagram and Facebook pages – we can’t wait to hear from you!