Cut food waste by shopping less and cooking more

Enlist kids, partners and roommates to make use-it-all cooking a fun, creative challenge. At our house, nights when we pull everything out of the fridge for a buffet are known as a “repast” or “scavenge,” depending on whether we’re feeling fancy or mischievous. Laura Kumin, my friend and a cookbook author, calls such dinners a “mitzvah meal.” If you’re serving kids, consider a muffin pan dinner, in which small quantities of whatever needs eating fill each cup. (Maybe this should be my next move for granola bars on the brink.)

Buying less food is liberating. It saves time in the store, time unloading, time throwing away and time hauling to the curb. It also, of course, saves money and can help cultivate kitchen clarity. When your fridge’s shelves are more clear and your mind is freed from the blinding glare of everything you could ever want at the supermarket, you start to see things. A bundle of parsley, raisins and lemon juice sing together in a fast and bright salad. English muffins embrace new identities in sandwiches. The whole-grain mustard a houseguest left behind transforms into an unexpected sauce. A pour of pickle juice is the shot of acid, flavor and moisture that a bland, dry dish needs.

Of course, I’m sharing what I’ve found works for me and others, but I don’t know your kitchen and your habits. Maybe you’re a precision meal planner and never need a clear-the-fridge night; maybe you expertly deploy an “eat me first box” and it has been all you needed to use up stragglers before they go slimy or fuzzy. If you’ve solved your personal food waste puzzle, or even if you simply have a great waste-fighting recipe you’re itching to share, tell me — tell everyone — because there are literally millions of pounds of food stranded in our homes.

We really, truly, just need to eat it.

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