Christmas leftovers? We’ve got you sorted 🌎🎅🏻

It’s nearly Christmas!🎄

Christmas is all about spending time with your loved ones to celebrate the holiday season. And for most of us food, a lot of it!

Unfortunately, with Christmas, comes environmental damage. Waste creation is one of the biggest and most noticeable damages that this season brings, but it doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t enjoy Christmas, or that we should feel guilty eating the delicious food we can just be more thoughtful this time of year and make sure none of it goes to waste! 

Every year, food and materials are wasted because of Christmas dinners and decorations. Being eco-friendly doesn’t mean you have to cancel Christmas. There are plenty of ways you can help the environment while celebrating the holiday. But… How much damage is really created in the UK during this season?

🗑️ 3 million tonnes of general waste is created every year during the holiday season, making that 115kg per household

🥘 About £40 worth of food is wasted during Christmas per household, imagine how much food you could potentially buy with this?

🏠 An average household can accumulate 5kg of plastic packaging rubbish by the end of December

🍷 Each year we munch and guzzle our way through 370 million mince pies, 250 million pints of lager and beer, 35 million bottles of wine and ten million turkeys!

🇬🇧 During the Christmas season, we eat as a nation, 80% more food than during the rest of the year.

👣 The University of Manchester recently calculated that our combined Christmas dinners produce the same carbon footprint as a single car travelling 6,000 times around the world.

Want to help reduce the environmental impact of Christmas whilst trying some new ways to use your Christmas leftovers?

Our chef friend Tom from FeedingSpeedy has created some delicious alternative Christmas sides or ways for you to use up your leftovers or spare veggies!

Just another way you can make your Christmas as planet-friendly as possible! 🎁

MISO BUTTER SPROUTS

Super easy. Super simple. Just three ingredients. 

We know Brussel sprouts are a bit like marmite, you either love them or hate them but we challenge those who hate them to try them this way. I think we may change your mind!

Takes 30 minutes, serves 2

INGREDIENTS
1 pack of Brussel sprouts, trimmed (400g)
100g butter
40g white miso paste
Salt and pepper
Olive oil

METHOD
1) Pre-heat your oven to 200C.
2) Put a pan of water on a high heat. When boiling, add a tablespoon of salt and a pack of Brussel sprouts. Boil for 5 minutes then drain immediately.
3) Lay your Brussel sprouts in a baking tray, season with salt, pepper and a drizzle of olive oil. Squash each sprout with a mug until flat, then roast in the oven for 25 minutes, until crispy.
4) Meanwhile melt the butter and miso paste together. Don’t worry if it looks split, some vigorous whisking will sort.
5) When the sprouts are ready, toss through your miso butter and serve immediately. 💓

ROAST PARSNIPS, PIGS IN BLANKET CRUMBLE

Enjoy this cheeky Christmas sides mash up! Two for the price of one: those of you that aren’t massive parsnip fans will be CONVERTED with the addictive pigs in blanket crumble 😉

Takes 50 minutes, enough for 2

INGREDIENTS
4 parsnips, tops removed, peeled and cut lengthways into quarters
4 sausages
4 bacon rashers
A small handful of thyme, leaves picked
Honey
Salt and pepper
Olive oil

METHOD
1) Pre-heat the oven to 200C.
2) Fill a saucepan with water and put on to boil. When boiling, add a pinch of salt, and the parsnip quarters. Boil for 5 minutes, then drain and lay on a baking tray.
3) Season the parsnips with salt and pepper, drizzle with olive oil and roast in the oven for 30 minutes. Take out the oven, drizzle with 3-4 tablespoons of honey, and pop back in the oven for 15 minutes until charred and sticky.
4) For the pigs in blankets crumble, put a frying pan on a medium heat. Take the skin of the sausages and crumble into the pan with a glug of olive oil and the thyme. Cook down and allow the sausage to turn into crispy bits! This should take about 5 minutes or so. Push the sausage bits to one side of the pan, and add the bacon rashers. Fry on both sides until crispy, then break up into little bits and fold through the sausage.
5) To serve, pile the parsnips onto a platter and top with your sausage and bacon bits.

ROAST CARROTS, SALSA VERDE, COLD YOGHURT

The marriage here of salsa verde and cold yoghurt celebrates the carrots sweetness. The hot/cold contrast is important here too; keep the yoghurt in the fridge so it can cool against the charred carrots. This dish does have anchovies in it, but to make veggie just leave them out, and add a few more capers.

Serves 2, takes 50 minutes

INGREDIENTS
4 big carrots, take off the top and cut lengthways into quarters
A tablespoon of capers, finely chopped
A tablespoon of gherkins, finely chopped
2 anchovies, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
A handful of parsley, roughly chopped
A tub of natural Greek yoghurt
White wine vinegar
Salt and pepper
Olive oil

METHOD
1) Preheat your oven to 200C.
2) Fill a wide saucepan with water and put onto boil. When boiling, add a tablespoon of salt, and your quartered carrots. Return the water to the boil, and cook your carrots for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, drain them and pop into a deep baking tray, seasoning well with salt, pepper and olive oil. Cook in the oven for 45 minutes until charred and cooked through.
3) Meanwhile, make your salsa verde. In a small bowl add the chopped up garlic, capers, gherkins, anchovies and parsley. Mix together with 2 tablespoons of white wine vinegar and 4 tablespoons of good olive oil. Mix together, taste and adjust the seasoning. It should be punchy!
4) To serve, spoon out 5-6 tablespoons of cold yoghurt onto a plate. Top with your charred carrots, and finish with a generous drizzling of salsa verde.

Tom Speed

Want to see more of Tom’s amazing recipes?

Head to his instagram for some inspiration, twists on classics and live cooking sessions!

Feeding Speedy