Plus more on her new cookbook, Scrappy Cooking, in this exclusive interview.
Courtesy Photo
Nothing goes to waste in the home of food influencer and best-selling author Carleigh Bodrug.
Read the full Q&A below.
Photo:Courtesy Photo
EatingWell:After your first bestseller,PlantYou, wasScrappy Cookingclearly the next book?
What inspired this topic to be the focus?
And it just went absolutely viral.
Courtesy Photo
Bodrug:Everybody has a reason for going vegan or plant-based, and mine was health.
We’re not taught about the implications of the food on our plate.
EatingWell:What’s a meal that you think tastes better or just as good leftover?
Bodrug:I am absolutely obsessed with soups, stews and curries.
I think they’re so easy to make.
They usually require one pot, so you throw everything in and they’re delicious.
I have an incredible Peanut Butter Curry recipe inScrappy Cooking.
Its peanut-red curry with all different veggies.
Because of the spices and the curry paste, it will become stronger and more delicious over time.
EatingWell:What’s a time-saving cooking hack that you wish you knew before starting to cook full-time?
This was a genius thing for me.
I was like, Why have I not been doing this my whole life?
You save on dishes and its life changing.
Edamame works great, too.
Put it in with boiling rice noodles and then drain it.
Bodrug:An underrated vegetable that people always discard are broccoli stems.
Broccoli stems are so delicious.
But once you peel that outer layer, you might slice them up into fries and bake them.
They have a flavor reminiscent of asparagus and they’re really delicious.
I have a recipe for that in my new book: Broccoli Stem Summer Rolls.
They’re crunchy, they’re delicious.
EatingWell:Do you have a favorite season to cook?
And what’s your favorite dish to cook in that season?
Bodrug:Its citrus season, and that is one of my favorite seasons to cook.
And so making preserved lemons and lemon salad dressings is fantastic.
Toss that with pasta and it’s a 10 out of 10.
I think citrus is really fun, and citrus to me is a reminder that spring is coming.
I think citrus is a sign of that.
U.S. Department of Agriculture.Why should we care about food waste?
U.S. Department of Agriculture.Food waste and its links to greenhouse gases and climate change.
International Agency for Research on Cancer.IARC Monographs evaluate consumption of red meat and processed meat.
Scarborough P, Clark M, Cobiac L, et.
al.Vegans, vegetarians, fish-eaters and meat-eaters in the UK show discrepant environmental impacts.Nature Foods.
- doi:10.1038/s43016-023-00795-w
Liu M, Zhang L, Lan Ser S, et.
al.Comparative Phytonutrient Analysis of Broccoli By-Products: The Potentials for Broccoli By-Product Utilization.Molecules.
