Hummus is one of the foods that falls into the “can’t buy without plastic” category. When I talk to others who are trying to reduce their waste, they often cite hummus as a culprit of plastic in their recycle bin. Thankfully, hummus is pretty easy to make at home, unlike some other plastic offenders (I’m looking at you, tofu!).

Easy Homemade Hummus {with optional add-in ideas}
This recipe makes enough that you can eat some that day/week and also freeze a couple jars for later. If you don’t want as much, you can easily half the recipe. Or double it! Hummus freeze well.

6 cups cooked chickpeas*
1 cup sesame paste (tahini) with some of oil
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
6 cloves garlic, peeled
juice of 1-2 lemons
salt and pepper

one/ Put chickpeas, sesame paste, olive oil, garlic, and lemon juice in a large food processor. Process until smooth, adding water from chickpeas (called “aquafaba!”) or regular water as needed. Continue processing until mixture is quite smooth.

two/ Taste and adjust seasoning, and add any of the optional “add-ins” listed below. Or any others you can think of! It’s not too hard to imitate a flavor you’ve seen in the store, or to create your own with whatever you have on hand.

Suggested flavor additions
1T cumin, smoked paprika, za'atar, or any other spice you love
citrus zest
spinach, arugula, or other greens
yogurt
jalapeño or other chiles
tomatoes
olives

*You can use canned chickpeas, but it’s also quite easy to make chickpeas (and any other bean) in the slow cooker. This way you can buy them from the bulk section and have absolutely no packaging! To cook chickpeas, add to slow cooker and cover with water. Cook on low for approximately 6 hours. If you’re making hummus with them, it doesn’t matter if they’re a bit overdone.

Food waste is a massive problem in the United States (and in many other countries). A recent study reports that on average, each American wastes a whole pound of food every day. There are so many problems with wasting food, but if it’s not being composted, it’s especially bad.

Landfills are not aerated for organic matter to break down. Therefore any natural waste in a landfill creates methane, a greenhouse gas 23 times as potent as carbon dioxide. According to the (pre-Trump) Environmental Protection Agency, landfills account for 34% of all methane emissions in the U.S., meaning any un-composted organic matter is contributing to climate change. And in case you haven’t heard, the forecast for the earth’s future is a toss-up between bad and terrible.

For a few years now, I’ve been patting myself on the back for composting all our food scraps. But lately I’ve realized, there’s actually more I can do. For centuries, people used up nearly 100% of all food products out of necessity. But today, some of us are lucky enough to enjoy an economic position where we have the luxury to throw away food.

I’ve been trying to find ways to use up more of my food scraps. This winter I’ve gotten really into making candied orange peels. I save the peels in a container in the fridge, and once I have enough I make a batch which lasts for a couple weeks. They’re delicious plain, on yogurt, or even on ice cream! They’re not going to save the world (unfortunately!), but they’re saving me money, and if you don’t have access to compost, this is a great way to reduce your methane footprint!

Candied Citrus Peels

~4 cups of citrus peels (oranges, blood oranges, tangerines, lemons, pomelos…)
4 cups water
2 cups sugar
1/4 fresh lemon juice

one/ Slice the peels to desired size. This might be strips or bite-sized chunks. It’s good if you leave a little of the fruit on the peel, but if you’ve consumed the whole fruit, that’s fine too!

two/ Boil a large pot of water. Once boiling, add the peels and boil for 2 minutes. Then drain the peels in a colander and rinse with cold water. Repeat this process twice more (3 times total). It’s important to do this so the peels aren’t too bitter.

three/ Rinse the pot and add the 4 cups of water. Stir in the sugar and lemon juice and bring to a boil. Add the peels, cover, and reduce the heat so that the syrup simmers very gently for 1.5-2 hours. Stir occasionally during this time.

four/ Once the peels are soft, remove from the heat and let the peel sit in the syrup at room temperature overnight (~10 hours).

five/ The next day, spoon the peels and the syrup into a jar with a tight lid. Store in the fridge.

six / If you want dried candied peels, remove pieces from the syrup and lay them on a rack or plate until they are the desired texture. Store in a jar in the cupboard.

Note: I’ve tried reducing the amount of sugar, and the result is very meh. I recommend using the full 2 cups of sugar!

A few weeks ago, we had some good friends over for dinner. I was planning to make Yotam Ottolenghi’s Cauliflower Cake (which is divine!) but our friends were avoiding flour. I had some kale I wanted to use up, too, so I started searching the internet for just the right recipe. I never found it. Instead, I just made this. It turned out well! I recommend doubling the recipe in two pans so you have twice the food for the same effort! Nicely uses up a full head of cauliflower and kale too.

Cauliflower + Kale Frittata {GF and dairy free}

½ medium head cauliflower (about 1 1/4 pounds or 3 cups), trimmed and chopped into bite-sized florets
½ bunch of kale, de-stemmed and chopped - separate stems and leaves
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
8 eggs
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
½ cup finely chopped parsley
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
Pinch of cayenne, if desired
Freshly ground pepper

one/ Bring a large pot of water to a boil and salt generously. Add the cauliflower and boil until very tender, about 15 minutes. Drain the cauliflower and transfer to a bowl of cold water.

two/ Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil over medium heat in a large, heavy skillet and add the onion and chopped kale stems. Cook, stirring, until the onion and kale soften, about 5-7 minutes. Add in the garlic, and stir together for about 30 seconds.

three/ Preheat the broiler function on your oven.

four/ Add the cauliflower and kale leaves, and sauté until kale starts to wilt. Sprinkle veggies with spices and mix.

five/ Meanwhile, whisk the eggs in a large bowl. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper to taste. Add a tablespoon of water and/or milk to increase the volume.

six/ Pour the eggs over the cauliflower and kale mixture. Spread the eggs evenly amongst the vegetables. Cook on low until the bottom starts to set.

seven/ Place pan under broiler until the top of the frittata is fully set and starting to brown.

Learning to make yogurt in the slow cooker has changed my life.

Ok, that might be an overstatement. But not by much. Yogurt was a huge source of our packaging waste. I tried making it a few times on the stove but it was so tedious and it boiled over and I was defeated. Then I learned on one of my FB groups that you can just use the slow cooker. WHAAAAA amazing.

So without further ado, here it is:

The Simplest Slow-Cooker Overnight Yogurt

one/ Pour 1/2 a gallon, give or take, into your slow cooker.

two/ Cook on LOW for 2.5 hours.

three/ Turn off heat (do NOT “Keep Warm”) and let it sit for 3 hours.

four/ Stir in 1/2 cup of “starter” yogurt. The first time you make yogurt, use store bought plain yogurt with lots of active culture listed on or under the ingredients. The next time, you can use some of your previous batch to make the next batch.

five/ Wrap or drape the slow cooker in a blanket and let sit approximately 12 hours. Alternatively, you can put the slow cooker pot in the oven with the light on. You just want the yogurt to stay slightly warm all night so the cultures can do their magic.

six/ The yogurt will be “done” when it is slightly firm on top. At that point you can place a fine mesh colander in a bowl, and pour the yogurt in. This will create a thick “Greek-style” yogurt. I store the thick yogurt and the whey (liquid part) separately. I add some whey back in to smooth out the texture. I also use whey for baking (it’s great in waffles!).