Derval O'Rourke: Reducing food waste at home - and my tofu Pad Thai recipe

Derval O'Rourke's Tofu Pad Thai

I am always looking for ways that I can be more sustainable with my choices. 

When it comes to buying new things like clothes (for me) or toys (for the kids), I try to take stock of what we have and what is actually a necessity. 

This goes doubly for my food consumption and one of my biggest annoyances is throwing away food.

While it is very difficult to measure exactly how much food waste there is, the UN has estimated that if food waste was a country it would be the third largest greenhouse gas emitter in the world.

Derval O'Rourke: reducing food waste, and an easy tofu Pad Thai

With this thought in mind, this week I will be sharing with you some of the tips that I have incorporated into my life to help me and my household reduce our food waste. I will also share with you a recipe for a delicious Tofu Pad Thai.

I have found that a lot of waste comes down to lack of proper planning and impulsive choices. There are numerous ways in which you can decrease food waste that are not limited to these, but these are what I have been doing, and are things that tend to help me and my family.

This might vary for you if you have a different lifestyle or organisation system. It may take time to figure out what works best for you, but below are some places you can start.

• Plan Ahead: This is something that many people might be sick of hearing, but if you aren’t someone who loves to cook on the fly, this definitely helps. Once a week, usually on Sundays, I sit down and try to plan out the meals that I will be making throughout the week and see what we need. This doesn’t mean that I know exactly what we’ll be having for dinner each night, but having an idea of the meals that I can make with the ingredients that I have bought helps me to plan. Having a list when I go to the supermarket helps me to avoid picking up produce that I won’t end up using.
• Don’t shop when you are hungry: When I go to the supermarket hungry I tend to over-purchase unnecessary items. I try to have a balanced meal beforehand, and that way I tend to stick with smarter choices and don’t end up buying things that will go to waste.
• Don’t be afraid of frozen foods: I love having a couple of bags of frozen fruit and vegetables in my freezer. This works really well, especially for weeks that are a little out of routine, and when I’m not able to properly plan for the week ahead. This ensures that I will always have nutritious produce at hand and I won’t be letting anything go to waste.
• Batch cook: I find it frustrating when recipes require half a vegetable, or half a tin of beans.When this happens I will tend to bulk up the recipe so that I can use the entire vegetable or can. I will then freeze the leftover portions which can then be used at a later time for an easy dinner option. This way I will never have half-used produce left in my fridge that I have to use before it goes bad!
• Make preserves or stocks: Using excess vegetables to make a delicious and rich stock is a great way to make use of any leftover veg you may have lying around the kitchen. Turning cucumbers into pickles, or fruit into jams and sauces can also be a great way to avoid having to throw anything out. A random but handy one — if there is wine left over in a bottle, freeze it into ice cubes and use it for stews/risottos.

Implementing these tips into my weekly routine has helped my entire household to cut down on food waste. It has also helped us save money in the long run. I rarely buy more food than we need for the week, and if this does happen, the leftover food gets turned into a base for soup or a stew, or goes into a jam or sauce that will be used as well.

Meals that are leftover get frozen and turned into a really quick lunch or dinner for another time.

This does take a little organisation and preparation, but I find that it is really worth that bit of effort for the results at the end of the week.

Wellness Tip: Try to plan your meals for the week ahead. This can take a lot of pressure off you throughout the week, it can save you money and help you to reduce your food waste.

Fitness Tip: Make sure you take time to warm up before a workout, and cool down after a workout properly. This can help you to avoid injuries.

Tofu Pad Thai

recipe by:Derval O'Rourke

Veganise the dressing here by swapping honey for maple syrup.

Servings

6

Preparation Time

 30 mins

Cooking Time

 10 mins

Total Time

 40 mins

Course

 Main

Cuisine

 Chinese

Ingredients

• 1 packet of organic tofu, drained and diced

• 2 tbsp corn-starch

• 2 tbsp olive oil

• 1 packet rice noodles

• 2 limes, juiced

• 1 fresh red chilli, finely sliced

• 3 spring onions, finely sliced

• 1 red pepper, finely sliced

• 2 carrots, peeled and grated

• 1 packet mangetout, finely sliced

• Handful of peanuts, roughly chopped

• Salt and pepper

• For the Asian dressing:

• 50ml tamari or soy sauce

• 20ml olive oil

• 10ml sesame oil

• 1 tbsp honey (for a vegan alternative, use maple syrup)

• Handful fresh coriander, roughly chopped

• 1 tbsp peanut butter

Method

1. Cook noodles as per packet instructions. Rinse with cold water and set aside to drain.

2. To make the dressing, blitz all the ingredients together in a small food processor.

3. In a bowl, toss together the diced tofu, cornstarch, salt and pepper, making sure all the tofu has a light covering of the mix.

4. In a wok, heat the olive oil and add in the tofu. Toss on a high heat until the tofu crisps up. Remove from the wok and set aside.

5. In the same wok heat the dressing a little. Add the noodles, pepper, carrot, spring onion, chilli and mangetout. Toss for 5 minutes. Do not overcook just heat through enough for eating. The crunchier the raw vegetables remain the better.

6. Just before serving, toss the tofu and peanuts through the noodles. Transfer to a large serving bowl and garnish with coriander and a drizzle of fresh lime juice.