Don't Compost...Cook It!

I confess...I am obsessed with recycling and composting.  The new girl at work is tired of me (politely) getting on to her when I find a plastic sub sandwich tray in the trash rather than the fancy recycling set-up we have in the kitchen.  And I've been known to bring a banana peel home for the compost heap rather than throwing it in the trash at work.  Obsessed.

Now, thanks to something I ran across in The New York Times, I can take the obsession to a whole new level. They published a list of suggestions on how to use vegetable scraps in cooking.  Here are a few I'm going to try:

• Corn cobs: Simmer them with onions and carrots to make vegetable stock.
• Watermelon rinds: Cut off the hard outer peel and use the crunchy rind in place of cucumber in salads. (Or you can pickle them like I do.)
• Potato peels: Deep-fry large pieces and sprinkle with salt and smoked paprika.  Not healthy, but environmentally friendly!
• Tomato scraps: Place in a sieve set over a bowl, salt well and collect the juice for use in gazpacho, , Bloody Marys or rice dishes.
• Other veggie scraps: This one is basic...save celery tops, carrot scraps, onion tops, etc. to make vegetable stock.  Throw them into a plastic container in the freezer until you have enough to make up a batch.  The stock can then replace water in rice, couscous, pasta, you get the idea