Are you passionate about decreasing food waste but sometimes find yourself throwing away fruit peels or carrot tops? Well, thankfully, we’ve come up with clever ways to utilize every part of that piece of fruit or excess greenery. That way, nothing ends up in your trashcan.

Some ingredients aren’t commonly used to their full potential and possess multi-functional capabilities. Below is a list of ten ingredients that exhibit a plethora of possibilities with recipe suggestions from our Food Monster App.

We also highly recommend downloading the Food Monster App  — with over 15,000 delicious recipes, it is the largest meatless, vegan, plant-based, and allergy-friendly recipe resource to help you get healthy! And, don’t forget to check out our Eat for the Planet Archives!

1. Chickpeas

Chickpea Tuna Salad Sandwich/One Green Planet

Canned chickpeas are incredibly versatile and very inexpensive to purchase, but there’s a chance that you may be pouring a very functional element down the drain. The brine that is produced from chickpeas, also known as aquafaba, can be whisked to airy perfection and used in place of egg whites or even in vegan cheese recipes!

Next time you open a can of chickpeas, reserve the liquid and try using it in our Chipotle Aquafaba Cheese recipe. It is incredible on top of our Chickpea Tuna Salad Sandwich, pictured above.

2. Leeks 

Creamy Potato Leek Soup/One Green Planet

Next time you purchase leeks from the supermarket, don’t just throw the dark green portion away but try adding them to our Homemade Vegetable Stock. This will infuse the stock with beautiful flavors, which can then be added to our Creamy Potato Leek Soup so that nothing goes to waste!

3. Carrots 

Raw Vegan Carrot Cake Cupcakes/One Green Planet

It is very common when cooking with carrots, to discard the green, leafy tops when they can be added to salads! Carrot greens are also incredibly detoxifying and possess high levels of antioxidants, and vitamin C, so they are an excellent immunity booster. Experiment with carrot greens by trying them out in our Kale Coconut Salad with Orange-Infused Vinaigrette, and finish your meal off with a more decadent carrot recipe like our Raw Vegan Carrot Cake Cupcakes, pictured above.

4. Lemons 

Creamy Lemon Ziti with Roasted Asparagus/One Green Planet

Lemon juice can be used in thousands of recipes, but let’s not forget about the zest! Lemon zest is bursting with flavor and gives any dish a pop of freshness. A fantastic meal can be created using the zest in our Lemon Almond Parmesan, and sprinkling it over top of our Creamy Lemon Ziti with Roasted Asparagus, pictured above.

5. Oranges 

Candied Orange Peels/One Green Planet

Biting into a slice of a juicy orange is definitely a feel-good moment, but oftentimes the peel gets overlooked and thrown away. Next time you’re enjoying a glass of freshly-pressed orange juice or savoring the flavors of our Orange Pancakes with Berry Compote, save the peel and try our Candied Orange Peels, pictured above! They are incredible when sprinkled over any chocolatey dessert!

6. Beets

Beet and Basmati Rice Burgers/One Green Planet

Beets are very functional, as the beetroot itself works beautifully in recipes like our Beet and Basmati Rice Burgers, pictured above, or our Beets with Dill Cheese, while their greens can be sautéed up to make incredible, nourishing side dishes. Experiment with beet greens and get inspired by our Beet Greens with Garlic and Toasted Almond recipe!

7. Cilantro 

Cilantro Jalapeño Hummus/One Green Planet

Cilantro is an incredibly fragrant herb that adds an unbelievable flavor to dishes, but the stems are often discarded. Next time you purchase cilantro, try using the leaves in our Cilantro Jalapeño Hummus, pictured above, and save the stems to throw into your blender when making pesto. These two dishes would work perfectly together on a veggie platter to serve at your next get-together!

8. Bananas

Lemon Banana Cashew Cream Pie/One Green Planet

One of the most commonly overlooked ingredients is the banana peel. Sure, bananas make any recipe delicious, like in our Lemon Banana Cashew Cream Pie, pictured above, but the peel is usually thrown in the trash! Think twice before throwing away a banana peel because they serve many purposes. They can be rubbed onto the face to soothe skin irritations, added to your garden to nourish your plants with extra nutrients, and even be turned into banana vinegar to drizzle over your salads. That’s quite the functional ingredient!

9. Fennel

Soufflé with Roasted Fennel, Zucchini, and Garlic/One Green Planet

Fennel is highly aromatic with a unique anise-like flavor and is very functional when used to its full potential. If you want to impress guests at your next dinner party, use the bulb of the fennel plant in our Soufflé with Roasted Fennel, Zucchini, and Garlic, pictured above, and save the fronds for our Asparagus Almond Crostini with Fennel Frond Gremolata.

10. Chard

Swiss Chard with Onions, Currants, and Pine Nuts/One Green Planet

Chard is not only a nutritional powerhouse but an incredibly versatile ingredient because the leaves and stems can both be used to create something fantastic. The leaves can be used to sneak extra health benefits into our delicious Lemon Swiss Chard Pasta, and the stems can be sautéed, creating an excellent side like our Swiss Chard with Onions, Currants, and Pine Nuts, pictured above.

Learn How to Cook Plant-Based Meals at Home!

Reducing your meat intake and eating more plant-based foods is known to help with chronic inflammation, heart health, mental wellbeing, fitness goals, nutritional needs, allergies, gut health, and more! Dairy consumption also has been linked to many health problems, including acne, hormonal imbalance, cancer, prostate cancer, and has many side effects.

For those of you interested in eating more plant-based, we highly recommend downloading the Food Monster App — with over 15,000 delicious recipes, it is the largest plant-based recipe resource to help reduce your environmental footprint, save animals and get healthy! And while you are at it, we encourage you to also learn about the environmental and health benefits of a plant-based diet.

Here are some great resources to get you started:

• Weekly Vegan Meal Plans
• Plant-Based Health Resources
• Plant-Based Food & Recipes
• Plant-Based Nutrition Resources
• The Ultimate Guide to Plant-Based Nutrition
• Budget-Friendly Plant-Based Recipes
• High Protein Plant-Based Recipes
• Plant-Based Meal Prep

Easy Ways to Help the Planet:

• Eat Less Meat: Download Food Monster, the largest plant-based recipe app on the App Store to help reduce your environmental footprint, save animals and get healthy. You can also buy a hard or soft copy of our favorite vegan cookbooks.
• Reduce Your Fast Fashion Footprint: Take initiative by standing up against fast fashion pollution and supporting sustainable and circular brands like Tiny Rescue that are raising awareness around important issues through recycled zero-waste clothing designed to be returned and remade over and over again.
• Support Independent Media: Being publicly-funded gives us a greater chance to continue providing you with high-quality content. Please consider supporting us by donating!
• Sign a Petition: Your voice matters! Help turn petitions into victories by signing the latest list of must-sign petitions to help people, animals, and the planet.
• Stay Informed: Keep up with the latest news and important stories involving animals, the environment, sustainable living, food, health, and human interest topics by subscribing to our newsletter!
• Do What You Can: Reduce waste, plant trees, eat local, travel responsibly, reuse stuff, say no to single-use plastics, recycle, vote smart, switch to cold water laundry, divest from fossil fuels, save water, shop wisely, donate if you can, grow your own food, volunteer, conserve energy, compost, and don’t forget about the microplastics and microbeads lurking in common household and personal care products!