It's the night before payday and the next big grocery shop is still 24 hours away. The pantry is suspiciously bare except for some penne, some olive oil, an old red onion and a tin of lentils. The fridge doesn't hold much promise either. What isn't mouldy or past its use-by date could fill just one shelf. There's a sealed container of salad leaves, left over from the weekend barbeque. Half a chicken from last night's takeaway. Some boutique cheese that your beloved bought back from a trip to the vineyards. A tomato. Half an avocado. Two eggs. Some sourdough bread that is going stale.
Every week - or fortnight, depending on your pay schedule - we face the same dilemma. Do we throw it out, or do we try to use it up? Do we give in and dial for a pizza or do we create something from nothing? Frankly, I find wasted food unconscionable but it is something of a lottery - much depends on our skill and ingenuity when faced with the remains of our previous meals
Back in the day, when teenage girls (it was only ever girls) learnt home economics in high school, réchauffé cooking was part of the curriculum. Réchauffé means 'to re-heat' and it appears to be all but a dying art, much like the cake decorating we learnt in the same course. At the tender age of fifteen, I was taught how to re-heat food safely (to avoid food poisoning); homework assignments were set and practical lessons were encouraged to showcase our creativity. Leftover potato and vegies became croquettes; the weekend roast became a curry; lettuce and peas became a rice-based soup; old vegies at the bottom of the fridge were slow roasted and pulped in a blender for a tasty pasta sauce.
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While most householders recognise the need to reduce and to recycle our waste, there's very little encouragement for using up leftovers. Recent statistics from the Australia Institute shows that in Sydney, households will throw out a staggering 3 million tonnes of putrescible waste - most of it to landfill - every year. That’s 20% of all your groceries, at an average cost of $40-$50 a week. You might just as well throw dollar coins into your wheelie bin if you don’t make an effort to use up good food.
There's a huge drive by local councils and environmental groups to compost putrescible waste, or to have a worm farm or to feed it to the chooks, all of which makes a garden thrive and reduces carbon emissions, but which doesn't actually address the central issue of using up leftovers in the first place. Could the next TV chef who cooks a meal with leftovers for our consideration please stand up?
Locally, I know of one chef who provides croquettes on his bistro-inspired menu but health regulations don't permit the re-use of day-old food, so anything not eaten is binned. Health regulations also mean that large supermarkets like Woolworths will bin their day-old food rather than donate it to charity. It's a regulation that has been neatly circumvented by OzHarvest, the community group and recent winners of the 2010 Local Hero award. This group encourages restaurateurs to donate their leftover meals and then distributes them to 150 charities and refuges throughout Sydney, with more centres in NSW to follow.
It's not something that we talk about, much less make a meal out of. This is to our great shame and cost, because with a little thought, your fridge leftovers could become a great thrown-together chicken salad.
Thrown Together Chicken Salad
Serves 4
1 small oak leaf or butter lettuce; 2-3 cups mesclun or mixed salad leaves; 1/2 bunch watercress; 2 tblsp chopped chives OR 1/2 red onion, finely chopped; 1-2 tomatoes, peeled, seeded and diced; 2 cups finely chopped barbequed or roasted chicken; 2 hardboiled eggs, peeled and chopped; 4 rashers bacon or prosciutto, cooked and crumbled (optional only); 1 large avocado, chopped; 50g gorgonzola, or gruyere or other strong flavoured cheese (I had some taleggio leftovers), crumbled; 8 slices sourdough bread; olive oil; 2 cloves garlic
Dressing: ½ cup olive oil; ¼ cup white wine vinegar; 1 tsp sea salt; 1/2 tsp sugar; 1 tblsp powered mustard or 2 tsp Dijon; ¼ tsp black pepper, freshly ground; pinch cayenne
Mix all the salad ingredients together, except for the sourdough, olive oil and garlic. Place the dressing ingredients in a screw top jar and shake until well combined, adjust for seasoning. Add dressing to salad; toss gently until leaves are coated. Brush the bread slices with olive oil, and lightly toast in a 180 degree oven until gently golden, then rub with cut garlic cloves. Serve salad piled high on individual plates with toasts on the side.