Review: How To Cook From Scraps by Higher Read

Title: How To Cook From Scraps

Author: Higher Read

Publication Date: June 10, 2013

Publisher: Higher Read, LLC
Pages: 120

Source: ARC from Publisher

Rating:

Synopsis (from the Goodreads):  With more than 50 recipes and lots of tips, How to Cook from Scraps is the perfect book for anyone who wants to go beyond meals that come out of a box or the freezer aisle. Learning to cook from scraps is about cooking efficiently and throwing away less. Sometimes cooking from scraps is learning to reinvent leftovers. Sometimes it is making your own broth. Cooking from scraps is always about making the food you already have in your house go further.

Cooking efficiently means saving money, creating less waste, and making meals entirely at home. Using the recipes and advice in How to Cook from Scraps, you will utilize every part of your food (even vegetable peels) and run your kitchen in a way that caters to this kind of efficiency. This book focuses on the recipes that are both from scraps and from scratch, but you will find as you make the meals that the tips for cooking this way will make you think differently about how your kitchen is organized.

If you don’t do any cooking from scraps or scratch yet, don’t be daunted. We will take you through the steps you need to change from a throw-away kind of kitchen, to a kitchen that makes wholesome and “whole” foods.

Amazon | Goodreads

HOORAY, a cookbook!! I'm very excited to make The Indigo Quill a little more well-rounded, so I jumped at the chance to review this cookbook. I promise you, I didn't add anything special! Except some cilantro. :) I had to be sure to really put this book to the test by following the recipe the way it was written. In order to achieve this, we also had to use exactly what the title says: scraps! I did not purchase anything new for these recipes and just grabbed things that were getting dusty in my cupboards...or garden! The recipe I am showing you today is the Leftover Vegetable Soup:

Ingredients (serves 4-6):

2 C Vegetable Stock

1/2 C Cooked Starch (pasta, rice, potatoes, etc)

1/2 C Cooked Vegetables

1/2 C Cooked Protein (meat, beans, or quinoa)

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in large pot.

Bring to a boil on the stove top, and then reduce to simmer.

Cook for 30 minutes.

Well that sounds easy, huh? Let me just point out that this book is for those looking for simple recipes to use things lying around your kitchen, or for the very beginner (I kind of wish I had this in college). If you are worthy of being a participant on the Iron Chef, this book will most likely bore you. If you are like me and can't even make mac & cheese right, then this is perfect for you.

So if you're a more visual learner, here is what I did:

These are the ingredients we used.

As my protein of choice we included whole grain rice. Usually I have quinoa, but I was out:

As the rice was cooking we prepared everything else.

Then I mixed it together, let it cook about 30 minutes and viola! That was it.

This actually turned out to be really delicious. I found it especially good when mixed with crackers for a wholesome flavor, or *tortilla chips* for a fiesta taste!

I really like this book. It has recipes that make me feel like I'm contributing to my husband's gourmet cooking. Now, thanks to Higher Read, I feel a little more confident volunteering to make dinner! These are easy recipes that taste good, don't cause waste, and allow you to play with them a little bit. Add a few spices or hor d'oeuvres and you've got yourself a delectable concoction!

Hope ya'll enjoy!