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Potatoes with shoots, peppers with wrinkles and chipped mushrooms: that's not bad in curry
Photo: Sebastian Maas / DER SPIEGEL
The contemplative time between the years is something like the little man's free therapy session: Confronting people who think differently at the family Christmas party makes it easier to recognize unloved traits in yourself and others.
With a little distance from work and everyday life, on the following days you allow yourself - sometimes for the only time a year - to evaluate, question and, ideally, change your own thoughts and actions with good intentions.
After the high-fat and sugar-heavy holidays, I also like to do it in terms of nutrition.
The good intentions have been forgotten in week 2 at the latest, because everyday life comes in between.
Unfortunately, little changes in the long term.
We had such good ideas!
On Instagram I asked readers and friends what resolutions they have for 2022.
Taking more time for yourself, reflecting on your own limits or better separating work and private life were often mentioned.
But there was also more sport and stretching, less screen time, a healthier diet or the desire to throw away less food.
At least I can help with the last two points.
Do you have leftover raclette cheese instead of potatoes?
Cooking without coal: grilled cheese sandwiches with lightning tomato soup - for 2.50 euros A column by Sebastian Maas
Waste avoidance is not only a nice contribution to a more sustainable society, it also benefits the household budget directly. The only thing more stupid than an expensive purchase is to throw half of it in the bin without being eaten. I myself like to make a Thai-inspired curry out of non-photogenic leftovers like shriveled vegetables.
In the end, you only need two main ingredients, coconut milk and curry paste, which are available at discount stores several times a year.
The intensely pungent taste of the curry paste and the silky texture of the coconut milk help to whitewash the possibly slightly limp vegetables.
In addition, you can throw together leftover vegetables or even fruit and combine them with canned goods.
So you don't have to use exactly the same vegetables as I did in my basic basic recipe.
If you are more hungry, add some rice to it.
This is what you need for four servings:
1 can of coconut milk
2-4 tbsp Thai curry paste (red, green, Massaman, Panang - it doesn't matter, they're all delicious!)
700 g potatoes that are no longer fresh, peeled
6-8 mushrooms
1 can of chickpeas
1 slightly wrinkled pepper
1 handful of peanuts or chopped spring onions
some oil and salt
What does this cost?
That varies depending on the choice of vegetables - in my variant about 90 cents per serving.
How long does it take?
About 30 minutes
More recipes for using leftovers
Cooking without coal: don't throw anything away!
Pesto made from carrot green for 1.50 euros A column by Sebastian Maas
Cooking without coal: Sweet semolina casserole with apples - for 1.10 euros A column by Sebastian Maas
Cooking without coal: Warm winter salad with crackling peas and clementines - for 1.75 euros A column by Sebastian Maas
How to cook a quick vegetable curry from leftovers:
Peel the potatoes, liberally removing any shoots, green and dark spots.
Because they take longer than peppers and mushrooms, I cook them separately: if they are bite-sized, in a little salted water for about 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, clean the remaining vegetables.
Quarter the mushrooms, cut the peppers into strips.
Pour the chickpeas into a colander and rinse under running water until the water is clear and no longer foams.
Heat some oil in a large saucepan.
Fry the curry paste in it and chop it up a little with a wooden spoon.
Add the vegetables and chickpeas and stir until the curry paste has settled around everything.
Pour coconut milk on top.
Half-fill the empty can with water and add this to the pot as well.
Stir thoroughly.
Simmer on medium heat for five to ten minutes, then add the cooked potatoes.
Let it steep for another minute, season with salt.
Sprinkle the peanuts (or chopped spring onions) on top last.
By the way, I got the best tip on how to really implement good resolutions from reader Conny: I should define concrete goals with measurable success at set times.
So not »read more«, but »in 2022 I would like to read a book every month«.
Conny has therefore not resolved to »throw away less«, but »to reduce the number of days on which she throws food in the trash to zero«.
What helps me to throw away less food:
Expand shopping area
Those who buy impulsively usually get too much and risk having to throw away a lot.
Instead,
make a list
at home : What and how much do I want to cook in the next few days?
Only buy the ingredients you need and don't get distracted by offers!
I now shop
twice a week
because then I don't feel compelled to have to plan for seven days.
Then I almost always get too much.
Fold down or freeze area
Almost everything that is about to decay can either be boiled down or frozen (fresh berries and fruit, for example, which later simply end up in the smoothie).
You can even chop herbs into small pieces and freeze them in portions with a little oil in ice cube molds.
I cook soft tomatoes and peppers, zucchini and eggplant into a sauce.
I can store them in sterile jars or freeze them - and even if I don't have space for them, they'll still last a few days longer in the refrigerator than the ripe vegetables would have.
Store area
Correct storage of every single food item is a science in itself.
Most importantly, many fresh ingredients (except tomatoes, potatoes, onions, citrus and tropical fruits) are better stored in the refrigerator and apples are kept away from everything else because of their ethylene emissions.
Take salads, vegetables and greens
out of the
plastic packaging
and wrap them in a damp cloth.
Cover the mushrooms with a dry paper towel.
You can read more about this here and here.
It also helps me to cut healthy food into
"snack size"
and to place it in lockable cans at eye level.
Then, even when I'm stressed, I tend to use celery rather than pudding.
Expand the MHD goods area
A
best-before date
is not the same as an expiration date.
Expired foods are therefore often still good.
Most products can be safely eaten days and sometimes weeks after the best-before date has passed.
When in doubt, listen to your gut feeling - and check whether the food still smells and looks okay.
The situation is different with information such as
»to use by«
- for example, this is written on minced meat or fish products.
You should urgently adhere to this information, otherwise you risk serious illnesses.
Open the soup area
A lot
of leftovers
- such as woody asparagus trimmings, mushroom and herb stalks, celery greens, carrot and onion peels - I clean and
collect
(dried)
in the freezer
in a large freezer bag.
If this is full after a few weeks, I make vegetable broth out of it if necessary.
It can be used as an intensive base for other soups, sauces or doughs.
And best of all: it only consists of "waste", so it is free, so to speak.
Let's see if I can finally stick to my long-deferred plans with this method - otherwise we'll see each other again in December 2022 for a free therapy session.
Happy New!
Do you know any other dishes that cost little money? Feel free to write to me on Instagram or share a picture of your creations there using the hashtag #KochenOhneKohle.