Waste not, want not - how to store food for longer

The average household throws away a third or more of its weekly food.

As the rest of the world lives in fear of a recession, here in the UAE it's inflation that's hitting many middle-class households.

As food prices rise, throwing away food is something many of us can no longer afford to do.

It isn't that we necessarily set out to waste food; we just don't know how to shop and cook more prudently or make food stretch further.

Perhaps the late Noughties are mirroring the Seventies, when many people had a freezer to keep them in fresh produce all year round. It might just be time for us to embrace freezers again.

Freezers aren't just a place to keep half-empty packets of peas and ice cubes. There are certain foods that freeze very well and which you might not have thought of freezing before.

Bread, butter, milk, peas, corn, most vegetables, meat and fish can all be frozen, so you can freeze all of these if you don't use them immediately.

Stock up

Take advantage of the summer produce and all the buy one get one free offers all around; stock up on raspberries and beans and, if you have the space, freeze a duck or a pack of chicken sausages.

Even liquid leftovers can be poured into ice trays and used for flavouring stews or gravies.

The results are not only unique but economical as well. As they say, waste not want not.

Stuffed tomatoes

• 4 tomatoes, large, craggy, ripe
• 4 tbs basmati rice
• Onion
• Pine kernels
• 50g feta cheese
• Fresh mint
• Parsley
• Olive oil

Turn on the oven to 180°C. Using a serrated knife, take the tops off the tomatoes to give you four bowls with natural lids.

Cut around the edges of the tomato flesh to enable you to take it out. A teaspoon and the force of your fingers help here.

Do the work over a shallow dish to save the juice and seeds. Finely chop the flesh, discarding any hard bits.

Leave the tomato shells upside down to drain.

Wash the rice in several changes of water and leave to soak in the water once it is quite clear.

Finely chop or grate the onion and fry in 2 tablespoons of olive oil until soft. Drain the rice and add to the frying pan with a handful of pine kernels.

Stir over heat until the rice becomes translucent.
Add the chopped tomato flesh and a few tablespoons of water.

Cook for a few minutes and then, off the heat, stir in the feta cheese cut into small cubes and a generous amount of chopped fresh mint and parsley.

Taste for salt — the cheese might have contributed enough — and grind in some pepper.

Dust the tomato interiors with a little salt and sugar and divide the stuffing mixture between them, leaving a little space at the top for expansion.

Find an oven-proof dish into which the tomatoes fit and pour the strained juices down the side.

Pour two more tablespoons of olive oil over the tomatoes and place in the oven.

When cooked, they will have a shiny, wrinkled appearance. Do not eat when fresh out of the oven. The tomatoes will sit around without making a fuss.

— By Fay Maschler/Evening Standard

PREPARATION

Potato salad with tuna and leftovers in the fridge

When the weekly supply runs dry, you don't always have to run to the shops.

A forgotten can of tuna at the back of the cupboard and a few veggies in the fridge are enough to make this delicious dish.

These ingredients are what I had available to make this salad but you can add anything you like.

Servings: 2 to 4

• 1kg new potatoes, washed and scrubbed
• A small handful of fine green beans, steamed
• 2 small tomatoes, roughly chopped
• 2 spring onions, roughly chopped
• 1 endive, roughly chopped
• 1 small radicchio, roughly chopped
• 1 tin of tuna (112g)
• A few leaves of rocket
• A few basil leaves
• A snip or two of chives

Put all the ingredients, except the potatoes and dressing, in a salad bowl.

Boil the potatoes in plenty of boiling, salted water until tender when pierced with a fork.

Drain well and quickly return them to the pan. Using a knife, slash the potatoes to break them up.

Add to the other ingredients and pour on the salad dressing. Give everything a lively toss, season with salt and pepper and serve immediately.

Food tip: Keep a supply of herbs on the windowsill for fresh flavour and garnish.

— By Carina Cooper, author of
After Work Cook

RECIPE

Rolled chicken breasts with asparagus and cheese

• 2 bunches asparagus
• 4 small free-range chicken breasts, skinless
• 250g ricotta
• 1 lemon
• Handful of fresh flatleaf parsley
• Salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 190°C. Cook the asparagus and cut into pieces no more than 5mm long.

Place the chicken breasts on a chopping board and cover with cling film.

Bash with a rolling pin until they are between 5mm and 1cm thick — the thinner the better, as they will be easier to stuff and roll.

Place the asparagus in a bowl with the ricotta and grate the lemon zest. Add a squeeze of lemon juice — 1 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon pepper — and mix.

Chop the parsley and add half to the asparagus and cheese mixture. Lay the four flattened breasts in two rows.

Season and spoon one heaped tablespoon of the asparagus and ricotta mixture along the middle of each breast.

Roll up each breast lengthwise and wrap tightly in foil. Twist the end of the foil firmly so the parcels are airtight and the rolled-up breast will set into a sausage shape while cooking.

Roast the parcels in the oven. After 20 to 30 minutes, insert a knife into the middle of a roll and check whether the tip feels hot when removed; if not, return the chicken to the oven for five minutes.

Unwrap the rolls and slice each one crossways into four pieces. Serve with salad and new potatoes. You can also freeze it.

— By Zoe Heron, co-author of
From Kitchen Revolution