Leaf to root: the meatless nose-to-tail principle

What has become established in gourmet cuisine as the utilisation of the whole animal is also finding its way into vegan and vegetarian cuisine. Leaf to root is the nose to tail of plants. What began as a trend, however, now has the background of paying more attention to daily food waste. According to Global 2000, around a third of all food produced ends up in the rubbish bin. That’s 1.3 billion tonnes that are thrown away worldwide every year. All the more reason to look into using vegetables from leaf to root, given the incredible amount of food that is thrown away.

While in times gone by it was often a necessity to utilise the entire plant as a dish, nowadays, it is simply no longer common practice and much of it has fallen into oblivion. Fortunately, however, the forgotten parts of vegetables and fruit are being rediscovered. Roots, peels, stems and leaves often have a high nutrient density and are therefore particularly healthy and flavourful. You can find a brief overview of what you can do with radish or carrot leaves and root vegetable or apple peel in the next paragraph.

Don’t you think every time you peel apples, carrots or potatoes that the skins are actually far too good to throw in the organic waste bin? Because they really are! But you can also whip up delicious treats with the leaves of radishes, carrots and broccoli. It’s understandable that raw carrot greens won’t be your favourite food, but deep-fried with a little salt, garlic granules and paprika powder, it’s a completely different story. Let yourself be inspired and get creative! It’s all about the right seasoning!

• Peels from root vegetables: You can collect all the peels from carrots, parsnips and celeriac in a screw-top jar in the fridge for a week. You can then use them to make a great clear vegetable soup.
• Radish leaves: Radish leaves are incredibly flavourful. You can mix them into your salad and eat them raw with a delicious dressing.
• Carrot greens: Can be blended wonderfully into a green smoothie, but also simply chopped up and cooked in a curry.
• Potato peels: These can be baked in the oven with oil and salt to make crispy potato crisps. Try it out, and you’ll never throw potato peels away again. Make sure to cut away the green parts and sprouts.
• Apple peels: You can also blend apple skins into your morning smoothie or stir them into your porridge in small pieces.

If you want to utilise your fruit and vegetables from leaf to root, you should start off slowly. The high fibre content may mean that your gut has to get used to it first. It’s best to buy a good cookery book on this topic. In it, you can learn a lot about the vegetables and from the knowledge and experience of the professionals. Not all parts of the plant are suitable for the leaf-to-root application. Tomato greens or potato sprouts and green parts of potatoes, for example, contain solanine, which can lead to poisoning.

The fact that you should be careful at the beginning shouldn’t stop you from getting creative! After all, that’s what makes cooking so much fun. Thinking up delicacies, cooking together, and then doing something good for your stomach and soul.