What exactly is Vegan Compleating? Ellen Tout - sustainability expert, dedicated vegan and author of the recent release ‘The Complete Book of Vegan Compleating’ talks to us about true zero-waste eating.
What is ‘Vegan Compleating’? Compleating means ‘completely eating’ – so eating all edible parts of fruits, vegetables and herbs. There are so many parts of produce that we discard without really thinking, but many of them are edible, tasty and nutrient-rich. It’s a great way to reduce food waste and also make your cooking a bit more creative. I first discovered compleating one Halloween when looking for ways to make the most of a pumpkin. I cooked things like paprika roasted pumpkin seeds, pumpkin peel crisps and soup from the unloved pumpkin guts from carving. I realised that I could apply this same compleating ethos to every fruit and vegetable I cooked and soon became a passionate really passionate about it. My debut book is out now: The Complete Book of Vegan Compleating: 104 I Plant Powered Planet
An A–Z of Zero-Waste Eating For the Mindful Vegan. As I learned more about compleating, I tried to find books to give me inspiration and recipes. Unfortunately, all books about food waste included meat and dairy. I realised that if I wanted a book like this, I was going to be the one to write it! My book includes recipes, advice, storage and preservation tips for making the most of every part of every fruit, vegetable, herb and ingredient found in a vegan kitchen. Some of my recipes are ‘compleat’, meaning that they use the entire fruit or vegetable. Such as a tabbouleh which uses the carrots and carrot tops. Or my onion skin-infused focaccia recipe, topped with caramelised red onions. I also use some of the less common parts by themselves to create recipes. My BBQ pulled banana peel recipe has been really popular. Then there’s
recipes using things like cauliflower leaves, broccoli stalks, onion skins, vegetable peelings, aquafaba, vegetable tops, fruit cores and more. So many of these make really delicious meals but are often overlooked or considered waste. It’s hard to choose a favourite! I didn’t previously know that kiwi skins are edible, so creating a whole baked kiwi salsa was great. My favourite might have to be my roasted butternut squash and sage ravioli. I’ve seen lots of recipes which use aquafaba (the liquid from a can of chickpeas), so in my recipe the ravioli pasta dough is made using aquafaba rather than eggs. It’s quite simple to make but looks really impressive. Food Waste & The Environment Food waste is responsible for 8-10% of global greenhouse gas emissions.
