For one content creator, a flavorful addition to the next meal starts with what Thanksgiving prep leaves behind: a pile of vegetable trimmings.
The result is furikake, a crunchy, savory seasoning. The creator makes it with would-be compost, including herb stems, carrot peels, and kale stems.
Here's what to know
In a video shared by Food52 (@food52), Clifford Endo demonstrates how to combine crisped vegetable scraps with nori, sesame seeds, and other flavorful additions.
In the video, he shows how to roast kale stems, herb stems, and carrot peels until crispy, before adding the other ingredients.
A sprinkle of the finished seasoning can dress up rice or roasted vegetables; leftover turkey gives Thanksgiving cooks another use for it.
Viewers offered serving suggestions of their own. "So good on noodle soups," one commenter wrote.
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More background
Using herb stems and vegetable peels after meal prep helps cooks get more out of vegetables they have already purchased.
Salt and a little sugar season the roasted scraps, while crisp shallots, sesame seeds, and nori pieces complete the mixture. Mushroom powder is another option.
The recipe also leaves room for personal preferences, with the creator encouraging cooks to add "whatever else you think would be really good."
What can be done?
To try the recipe, finely chop the kale and herb stems, then toss them and the carrot peels with small amounts of sesame oil and soy sauce, as demonstrated in the Food52 video. Use a baking sheet, with the scraps distributed evenly across its surface.
The creator aims for fully crisp scraps, with the oven set to roughly 250 degrees and a baking time of 35–50 minutes.
Pay particular attention to the carrot peels around the halfway mark; remove them while the slower-cooking kale stays in the oven.
For the final blend, combine salt, sugar, sesame seeds, nori pieces, and crisp shallots with the crushed scraps; mushroom powder is optional. The scraps must cool completely before they're crushed.
Another commenter suggested uses beyond topping leftovers. "They'd be amazing in stuffing or on French fries or even in a holiday dip."
The creator described the finished seasoning: "Now you've taken something headed for the trash and turned it into something salty, crunchy, savory, and ridiculously useful."
Where can I learn more?
Making furikake from vegetable scraps is just one way to use more of the food you bring home. These stories explore dehydrated tomato sauce, fridge-cleanout recipes, and bread-end stuffing.
• Complaints about $9 curbside broccoli sparked a reminder that stems are worth eating.
• After three months in a binder, dehydrated tomato sauce pages still make Bloody Marys.
• A home cook turns fridge leftovers into chia pudding, wellness shots, and soup base.
• A zero-waste cook saves bread ends for months, then makes homemade stuffing.
• A dumpster diver's third monthly peach haul fills the freezer and yields white peach butter.
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