Zero Waste Recipes

This recipe comes from the Violet Bakery Cookbook via the New York Times. If you have access to a good selection of bulk goods and a farmer’s market with fresh eggs, it’s super easy to do zero waste, with the exception of vanilla extract.  (But even this is usually available in glass bottles, which can be recycled. or even reused.) I doubled the flaky sea salt and added about 8 minutes to the cooking time. (Perhaps my oven temp is not reading correctly?)

Ingredients:

• 11 tsp unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes + more to grease the pan
• 10 1/2 oz bittersweet chocolate, roughly chopped
• 1 1/2 cups whole grain rye flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened dutch cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp fine sea salt
• 4 large eggs
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 1 Tbs vanilla extract
• 1 tsp flaky sea salt

The Fillery was delighted to share this warm freekeh salad with the good people at the Grand Army Plaza Greenmarket on this first cold day of the season. For the days that aren’t quite so chilly, this one is great cold too!

This recipe is easy to do without generating much waste at all. Most ingredients are available seasonally at your local farmers market, and the freekeh and spices can likely be found package-free if you have a good bulk store near you. If you’re lucky, they’ll also have the maple syrup and olive oil available for refill!

Ingredients:

• 2 cups freekeh
• 3 1/2 cups water

• 2 tsp olive oil
• 2 tsp maple syrup
• 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
• salt & pepper to taste
• 5 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch thick sticks
• 2 medium turnips, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch thick wedges

 For sauce:

• 3 Tbs butter
• 1 shallot, finely chopped
• juice of 1/2 large lemon
• 1/3 cup fresh mint, coarsely chopped

For garnish:

• 1/3 cup pistachios, coarsely chopped
• Fresh mint leaves

1. Place large baking sheet in oven and preheat to 450 degrees.

2. Combine olive oil, maple syrup, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper in small bowl. Spread carrots and turnips over pre-heated baking sheet and drizzle with oil mixture. Toss to lightly coat. Roast at 450 for 15 minutes. Shake pan to loosen and turn vegetables and roast for an additional 10-15 minutes, or until edges begin to turn golden.

3. While vegetables are roasting, rinse and drain the freekeh. Season water with salt and bring to boil, add the freekeh. Cook for 25-30 minutes, or until soft but chewy at the center. Drain off any excess water.

4. Melt butter in a large sauté pan. Add chopped shallot and cook until soft. Add lemon juice and mint and cook until mint wilts slightly. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

5. Add cooked freekeh and roasted vegetables to sauté pan, toss to combine. *(If you have a sweet tooth like I do, you drizzle a little extra maple syrup over the whole lot in this step.)

6. Divide freekeh between four bowls, top with chopped pistachios and fresh mint leaves.

Homemade granola is super easy and far less expensive than the pre-packaged, cellophane-entombed stuff, and it’s package free! Really, there are few hard and fast rules with homemade granola. Substitute away and let me know what happens!

Ingredients

• 3 cups rolled oats **
• 1/4 cup shredded coconut (optional)**
• 1 cup (+) chopped nuts and seeds (this time I used pecans, pepitas, sunflower seeds, and ground flax seeds)**
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon (optional)**
• 2 Tbs sunflower oil
• 3 Tbs honey*
• 3 Tbs maple syrup*
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup dried fruit (this time I used cranberries) **

*Denotes items usually available at your neighborhood Greenmarket
**Denotes items usually available in the bulk bin section of your local coop or natural grocery store
(ALL of the above ingredients will be available for your refilling needs at The Fillery…set to open next summer!)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine oats, nuts/seeds, coconut, and cinnamon (if you’re into them). In another bowl, mix together oil, honey,  maple syrup, and vanilla. HINT: Measure out the oil first. This will make the honey and maple syrup slide right off the measuring spoon and into the bowl. (If you prefer to have the sticky goodness of honey and syrup coating your spoon, thereby forcing someone to “pre-clean” it before washing, that’s totally legitimate. In this case, don’t measure the oil first.)

Pour oil/sweetener mixture over the oat mixture, mix well.

Spread evenly over a rimmed baking sheet and bake for 8 minutes. Remove from the oven, sprinkle with dried fruit, stir, and bake for an additional 8 minutes. The granola is finished when it just starts to brown. *It will be a little sticky!

Allow granola to cool for 10 – 15 minutes and it will crisp up nicely.

(Award winning & package free!)

We had a great time at Brooklyn Greenmarket’s apple pie bake-off…and not just because  we won for the second year straight! All ingredients were purchased from the Grand Army Plaza Greenmarket and bulk food bins at local grocery stores. Of course we used our reusable containers!

This recipe is really the same as our Rustic Rosemary Apple pie, but we used cranberries instead of rosemary and rye flour instead of whole wheat. What combinations will you try?

Ingredients

Crust:

• 1 ½ cups all purpose flour, plus more for work surface
• ½ cup rye flour
• ¼ tsp kosher salt
• 2 Tbs granulated sugar
• 2 sticks unsalted butter, cut into small bits and chilled
• 4 Tbs cold water
• 1 egg, beaten, for glazing crust
• 3 Tbs turbinado sugar for dusting crust

Filling:

• About 2 lbs apples, peeled, cored and cut into thin slices. (About 6 apples. I combine Granny Smith, Empire, Golden Delicious and Macintosh.)
• ½ cup turbinado sugar (course brown sugar)
• 3 tsp fresh lemon juice
• 2 Tbs cornstarch
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• ¼ tsp salt
• 1/3 cup dried cranberries, chopped
• 1/4 cup toasted pecans, chopped

Cast iron skillet

Instructions:

Heat oven to 375 degrees.

Combine flours, salt, and granulated sugar in a food processor.  Add butter, pulsing until the mixture resembles course meal. Add cold water, 1 Tbs at a time, pulsing until the dough forms but is still a little crumbly. Turn the dough onto lightly floured work surface and kneed gently, forming a disk. Place the dough in a bowl and cover with a damp cloth, refrigerate for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, toss the apples in a bowl with turbinado sugar, lemon juice, salt, cinnamon, cornstarch, and cranberries. Set aside. (Reserve toasted pecans for the last 5 minutes of baking.)

Remove the dough from the refrigerator and roll into a 12-14 inch circle. Place in 8 or 9 inch cast iron skillet. Do not remove excess dough. Mound the apples in the center. Fold dough over apples toward the center. Brush crust with egg and sprinkle generously with remaining turbinado sugar. Bake for 40 – 45 minutes, or until crust is golden brown and apples are bubbly. Five minutes before end of baking time, sprinkle pecans over the apples in the center. Check the crust and cover with foil to prevent over-browning after 30 minutes if necessary.

 (Award winning & package free!)

I like to use a mix of apples – both sweet and tart – to really make the flavor and texture of this pie dynamic. Feel free to experiment with your favorites!

Ingredients

Crust:

• 1 ½ cups all purpose flour, plus more for work surface
• ½ cup whole wheat flour
• ¼ tsp kosher salt
• 2 Tbs granulated sugar
• 2 sticks unsalted butter, cut into small bits and chilled
• 4 Tbs cold water
• 1 egg, beaten, for glazing crust
• 3 Tbs turbinado sugar for dusting crust

Filling:

• About 2 lbs apples, peeled, cored and cut into thin slices. (About 6 apples. I combine Granny Smith, Empire, Golden Delicious and Macintosh.)
• ½ cup turbinado sugar (course brown sugar)
• 3 tsp fresh lemon juice
• 2 Tbs cornstarch
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• ¼ tsp salt
• 2 tsp fresh rosemary, finely chopped

Cast iron skillet

Instructions:

Heat oven to 375 degrees.

Combine flours, salt, and granulated sugar in a food processor.  Add butter, pulsing until the mixture resembles course meal. Add cold water, 1 Tbs at a time, pulsing until the dough forms but is still a little crumbly. Turn the dough onto lightly floured work surface and kneed gently, forming a disk. Place the dough in a bowl and cover with a damp cloth, refrigerate for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, toss the apples in a bowl with turbinado sugar, lemon juice, salt, cinnamon, rosemary, and cornstarch. Set aside.

Remove the dough from the refrigerator and roll into a 12-14 inch circle. Place in 8 or 9 inch cast iron skillet. Do not remove excess dough. Mound the apples in the center. Fold dough over apples toward the center. Brush crust with egg and sprinkle generously with remaining turbinado sugar. Bake for 40 – 45 minutes, or until crust is golden brown and apples are bubbly. Check the crust and cover with foil to prevent over-browning after 30 minutes if necessary.