Chef shares money-saving tip to make the most out of your produce: 'Love this'

A chef shared an easy way to use all your greens and herbs in a simple dish that packs a ton of flavor and saves your lettuce from the trash bin.

The scoop

Emily on Toast (@emilyontoast) posted the video as part of Food Waste Action Week, demonstrating how she turns "limp salad leaves into a delicious pesto."

@emilyontoast SALAD LEAF PESTO 🌱 #FoodWasteActionWeek. When I asked on my stories what food you are most likely to waste, by far the most common answer was salad leaves! It's not surprising - bags of leaves can go limp pretty quickly, and even worse, slimy. My favourite way to use them up is to make pesto. It's really tasty, flexible based on what you've have in, and a good way to use up any leftover herbs too, as these can be added as well - i.e parsley, mint, chives. Lots of people associate pesto with pine nuts but you can use any nuts really. I used a mix here - pine nuts, pistachios and pumpkin seeds. Feel free to mix it up with what you've got in. Almonds, walnuts and hazelnuts are also great options. I used mixed salad leaves, but you could also make this recipe with watercress or rocket. I like to toss through pasta, but you can use it however you like. Store in the fridge and use with a week or so. Enjoy 💚 Full recipe on my Substack, link in bio. #reducefoodwaste #zerowastecooking #wastenotwantnot #cookingfromscratch #homemadepesto ♬ original sound - Emily on Toast

She asked her followers and said the food most likely to go to waste is salad leaves and herbs, which she showed being stuffed in a food processor with olive oil, lemon, Parmesan, nuts, and seeds. Emily noted that the recipe is "flexible" and the pine nuts traditionally associated with pesto can be substituted with pistachios and pumpkin seeds, for example.

Once it's blended, just mix it with pasta, add it to roasted vegetables or sandwiches, or do "whatever you like."

How it's helping

With food prices going up, it's important to make the most of what you spend at the grocery store without wasting a penny or a leaf. The average American spends $788 on food that goes uneaten, according to ReFed, a nonprofit dedicated to reducing food waste. It also reported that food waste accounts for nearly 50% of surplus food, at a cost of $264 billion.

All that food getting wasted isn't just bad for your wallet; it's bad for the environment too. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, 24% of landfill material is from food waste, and the impact of uneaten food is equal to the heat-trapping gas pollution of over 42 coal-fired power plants.

The more planet-warming gases added to the atmosphere, the more long-term impacts on weather patterns, which can create extreme droughts and floods and impact food prices.

Grocery stores and restaurants are catching on to the food waste problem too, working with companies such as Flashfood and Too Good to Go, both of which offer deals on surplus food before it gets tossed.

It's also important to get your greens in for your own personal health. According to NPR, just 1 in 10 Americans gets the recommended 2-4 cups of vegetables per day.

What everyone's saying

People in the comments were fans of Emily's hack, writing "Love this!" and "Excellent idea!"

What's the most common reason you end up throwing away food? Bought more than I could eat 🛒 Went bad sooner than I expected 👎 Forgot it was in the fridge 😞 Didn't want leftovers 🥡 Click your choice to see results and speak your mind.

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