Zero Waste Recipe: Carrot Top Chimichurri
By Market Chef Monique at Gastromonique Personal Chef Services

Ingredients:
1 Bunch Carrot Tops (Fruitful Hill Farm, Emadi Acres Farm)
2 garlic cloves (Fruitful Hill Farm)
1 Bunch Parsley or Celery Leaves (Bouldin Food Forest, Emadi Acres Farm)
1 sprig Oregano (Bouldin Food Forest or f-stop farm)
Pickled Peppers to Taste (optional)
2 tbs Pickled Pepper Juice (can sub red wine or apple cider vinegar)
2 tbs Olive Oil (Texas Hill Country Olive Oil)
Pinch of Salt

Directions:

Remove stems from Carrot Tops, Parsley, and Oregano.

Place Carrot Tops, garlic, peppers, and vinegar in a food processor and pulse to combine.

Add Herbs. While processing, slowly drizzle in olive oil.

Season with Salt and enjoy!

Celery Leaf Chimichurri

Ingredients:

2 cups celery leaves (Emadi Acres Farm)

½ cup olive oil (TX Hill Country Olive Co.)

1 lemon (juice and zest)

1 tsp red pepper flakes

Pinch of salt

Directions:

Chop up celery leaves and combine with other ingredients, mixing well.  Makes an absolutely delicious topping for soups like this vegan chickpea noodle soup!

One of our favorite zero waste recipes is making vegetable stock with our veggie scraps! Collect them in your freezer and use what you have on hand to loosely follow the recipe below. Some of our favorite veggies to use scraps from: Onions, carrots, celery, garlic, mushroom, and various greens like chard, kale, and beet greens! 

Vegan Vegetable Stock
By Market Chef Maggie Perkins

1 ounce mixed mushrooms such as oyster, porcini, or morel
1 medium yellow onion, split in half
1 bunch large carrots, ends and greens roughly chopped 
1 bunch greens of choice, stems & leaves
2 to 3 leeks, greens only (reserve whites for another use)
1 bunch scallions, sliced
3 cloves garlic, rough chopped
6 sprigs thyme 
6 sprigs parsley 
Sea salt, to taste

Combine all ingredients in a large stockpot and cover with water by 1 1/2 inches. Bring to a boil, reduce to a bare simmer, and cook, covered, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are completely tender and stock is aromatic and flavorful, about an hour. Strain stock through a fine-mesh strainer. Discard solids. Allow stock to cool uncovered at room temperature for 1 hour. Cover and transfer to refrigerator until completely chilled. 

Refrigerated stock will keep for about 1 week, or frozen, 3-6 months. 

Seasonal Vegetable Stir Fry

3 tbs Tamari, soy sauce, or Liquid Aminos
2 tbs Rice Vinegar
1 tsp chili garlic sauce
1 2” thumb of ginger, julienned
3 Green Onions
1 lb Veggies of choice – cauliflower, broccoli, chard, etc
1 tbs corn or peanut oil

Combine tamari, rice vinegar, chili garlic sauce in small bowl.

Heat oil in a wok over medium high heat. Add ginger and onions and sauté for 2 minutes.

Add the rest of the veggies and sauce mix, stirring frequently for 2-3 minutes to combine.

Optional: Add in your protein of choice, or serve over noodles or rice!

Pickled Watermelon Rind
by Market Chef Monique Santua of Gastromonique

3 c watermelon rind cut into bit sized pieces
1 1/2 c watermelon juice
1/4 c honey
1/4 c lime
1/4 c white wine vinegar
1/4 c rice wine vinegar
1 cinnamon stick
1 tbs salt

Place watermelon in a bowl with salt for at least 1 hour – up to overnight. Remove from liquid and rinse. Place in mason jars.

In a small pot, bring watermelon juice, honey, lime, vinegars, and cinnamon stick to a boil.

Pour into jars of watermelon and let cool. Refrigerate for 24-48 hours.

Spring Celebration Salad

Spring Mix (Bouldin Food Forest)
Arugula (Flintrock Hill Farm)
Strawberries (Bernhardt’s Farm or Flintrock Hill Farm)
Edible Flowers (Animal Farm or f-stop farm)

Other suggested add-ons: Pecans (Yegua Creek); Goat Cheese (Pure Luck); Microgreens (Joe’s Organic)

Toss all ingredients together with dressing of choice! This salad works especially well with a balsamic-based vinaigrette like this one:

Strawberry Fennel Dressing
1T strawberry syrup or jam
1T fennel frond, minced
½ cup extra virgin olive oil (Texas Hill Country Olive Co)
¼ cup Balsamic vinegar (Texas Hill Country Olive Co)
Freshly-ground black pepper, sea salt, to taste