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It’s the start of a new year, and like everyone else, the We Don’t Waste team has new beginnings, challenges, and goals for ourselves on our minds. This January, we can’t help but think about what challenges we can try to care for our planet—which is how we stumbled onto Veganuary.

Veganuary is a way to encourage people to try veganism for the month of January. Get the name now? We recognize that changing your diet and shopping practices is never easy, and is, frankly, a privilege. It can impact your budget and even how you feel, and it is a great experience to reflect on how you might like to maintain your current food habits or would consider changing them in the future.  

If you would like to join us in removing animal products from your diet this month (or maybe even just Meatless Monday) here are some reasons it would be beneficial:

• Vegan diets produce 75% less climate-heating emissions, water pollution, and land use than a carnivorous diet
• According to a report from GRAIN and the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, The world’s five biggest meat and dairy producers emit more combined greenhouse gases than ExxonMobil, Shell, or BP, the top three oil production companies
• To support eating meat, we must grow crops to feed said animals. For example, 25lbs of grains are needed to produce 1lb of beef. With there being 75 billion farm animals on the planet for just 8 billion people, that results in us growing an astronomical amount of food to be funneled down to animal feed. Especially considering crops such as lentils and soy produce the same amount of protein as meat, such as chicken. 
• Communities most affected by climate change are also disproportionately experiencing food insecurity. By reducing our carbon footprint through our own diets we can help mitigate the harm that others experience. 

To make this challenge a little bit easier, we’ve got a few recipes to recommend you try out. Like this waste-free bouillon bag that can be the base of your next soup.

Or a carrot-top pesto to go on pasta or use as a dip for carrot chips.

If you’re feeling extra creative, give our Carnitas a try–they aren’t pork-based, but they are made from banana peels and are every bit as delicious. Do you think you’ll give this challenge a try? 

A big portion of food waste produced at the household level is actually edible food! Food waste isn’t just the old pizza in the back of the fridge or the cheese that’s been left to rot, but the little pieces that get shaved off of the tops, bottoms, and sides of food during food prep! Most people just assume these bits and pieces are inedible foods and sweep them into the trash, but many times the ends and stems can be used to create something delicious and can add up to many pounds of food you’re keeping out of the trash.

Carrots are a common food item in many kitchens, and the prep almost always begins with chopping off the top and shaving the outside of the carrot. Try these recipes below to creatively use the parts you may have otherwise discarded, and tag us at @WeDontWaste on Facebook and Instagram so we can see your creations!

Carrot Top Pesto

Did you know the tops of carrots are edible? Not only that, they can make a delicious addition to a pesto and help reduce your waste at home. Mix it with pasta, serve it as a dip, add it to baked smashed potatoes, toss it with white beans, or go all-in with carrots and serve it as a spread over roasted baby carrots.

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 10 minutes mins

Total Time 20 minutes mins

Servings 4 Servings

Ingredients

  

• 1 cup packed green carrot tops (rough stems removed)
• 1 cup packed green baby spinach
• 1 large clove garlic finely chopped
• ½ cup roasted, unsalted cashews
• ½ tsp sea salt
• ½ tsp black pepper
• ½ cup extra virgin olive oil

Instructions

 

• Rinse the carrot top greens to dislodge any dirt. Pick out and discard any dry, yellowed, or otherwise unappetizing looking leaves. Discard tough stems.
• Place the carrot tops greens, baby spinach, chopped garlic, roasted cashews, salt, and pepper in a food processor. Pulse several times. Scrape the sides down with a rubber spatula.
• While the food processor is running, slowly pour in the olive oil in a steady stream. Scrape the sides down with a rubber spatula. Pulse until smooth.

Notes

Store the pesto in an airtight container in your fridge. It should last for up to week in the fridge, or up to 6 months in the freezer. 

What do you normally do when you have to clean a carrot? Scrub it with vegetable cleaning solution or shave off the outside? If you shave them, gather the shavings and keep them in a vegetable bag in the fridge. The shavings will keep between 2-3 weeks until you are ready to prep them for this awesome (and vitamin-packed) snack!

Sweet & Savory Carrot Chips

Carrot chips can make for the perfect potato chip substitute when you're craving something salty! The next time you have leftover carrots or shavings from a previous recipe, save them to create a delicious treat.

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Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 20 minutes mins

Total Time 40 minutes mins

Course Snack

Servings 8

Ingredients

  

• 2 lb carrot
• ¼ cup olive oil
• 1 tbsp sea salt
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon

Instructions

 

• Preheat the oven to 425°F. Line several large baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
• If you've saved the carrot shavings from another recipe, skip this step. Otherwise, trim the carrot tops off and save them for your pesto. Starting on the thick end, slice the carrots paper-thin on the bias to create elongated slices.
• Place the carrot slices in a large bowl and add the oil, salt, cumin, and cinnamon. Toss well to thoroughly coat. Then lay the slices in a single layer on the baking sheets.
• Bake for 12-15 minutes, until the edges start to curl up and turn crisp. Then flip all the chips over and bake another 5-8 minutes to crisp the bottoms. Once cool, store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.