Good morning. Last week, we explored how to use every bit of food in our refrigerators, turning scraps into delicious meals.

This week, let’s dive into specific meal frameworks that make it easy to reduce waste.

LIFESTYLE PROTOCOL 🤝

7 customizable meals to reduce food waste

Even the best of us will end up scraps in the crisper drawer or pantry staples that accumulate dust. When you just need to use up some ingredients, here are some of our favorite types of dishes to keep in mind (and why).

1. Fried rice — any protein, veg, or aromatic goes. Can be seasoned with many pantry staples.

2. Grain/salad bowl — Throw in whatever leftover protein or veg you have over a base of greens or grains. Customize the flavor with sauces or salad dressings.

3. Frittata/omelette/quiche — The ultimate fridge scrap meals. Eggs can bind almost any combination together.

4. All purpose stir fry — Toss together any chopped meat or veggie over rice or noodles.

   • Works with most sauces, like this generic recipe.

5. Japanese curry — A thick sauce that just needs water to rehydrate and can make even the saddest vegetables satisfying. Coat leftover cubed veggies and or meat with this umami-forward sauce, garnish with fresh herbs, and serve over rice

6. Pasta salad — the perfect framework based meal that can accept almost any crunchy vegetable or diced protein.

7. Snack board — sometimes a grazing-style meal will get you by. Lay out leftover proteins, deli meat, raw veggies with some sauces, nuts, crackers, or chips.

Overarching principle: think about dishes that have a starch base but can be modified with almost any protein or veg.

For specific examples of these, check out some of our recommended recipes below.

RECIPE RECOMMENDATIONS ✅

Flexible recipes

Sometimes, using up ingredients in your fridge is all about being willing to try an ingredient in place of another.

TIPS

• Think about all of these recipes as framework examples with flexible “plug and play” components.

• As you look over the ingredient lists, envision how you could swap in different vegetables, proteins, sauces, or starches in each, depending on what you already have at home:

FOOD TRENDS 🚀

Celebrity recipes

Why are there so many celebrity recipes?

It seems like every celebrity has a recipe for something these days. Why is that Celebrities often share a recipes that they love and claim as their own, which then go viral.

• TikTok was obsessed with Taylor Swift’s cookies

• Hailey Bieber had pizza toast

• Snoop Dog seemed to make everything

Our deep connection to celebrity culture naturally extends into their culinary world. This isn't surprising, as food is deeply personal.

• We experience flavors not only through taste and smell, but through the powerful lens of emotions, memories, and cultural significance.

The human element: When people cook a celebrity's signature dish, they're doing more than following a recipe - they're participating in a shared experience with someone they admire. It's a tangible way to connect with their lifestyle.

READER Q&A 🧠

Roux science

Answer: A roux is a thickening agent that consists of equal parts flour and fat (like butter or oil). The flour and fat are cooked together over medium low heat to form a paste like mixture, which can be used to thicken sauces (like bechamel) or lend color to a dish (like in a gumbo).

How does it work?

When flour is heated with fat, the fat coats the starch granules, preventing clumping. As liquid is added and heat is applied, the starch absorbs water and swells (gelates), creating viscosity.

• If you just added a spoonful of flour by itself to a hot liquid, it would immediately clump and not be effective at evenly thickening a sauce.

• Cooking the flour in fat also gets rid of the raw, floury flavor. You can toast and darken the starch to bring browned flavors to food. Keep in mind the more you brown a roux, the less thickening power it will have.

Learn more about cooking reactions & molecules on our Fundamentals pages.

Have a culinary question? Reply to send it in for a chance to be featured and get your question answered.

WINNING READER SUBMISSION 🏆

Bomb burrito

This weeks winner is Joshua, who made a burrito with homemade refried beans, Mexican rice, chorizo, lime aioli, habanero jack cheese, and crispy veggies!

The best part is the foil wrap. If you know, you know.

Reply with your best home-cooked food photos for a chance to win & be featured!

EXTRA HELPINGS 🍽️

A read: The Slow Decline of Drinking Draft Beers at Bars

In a minute or less: How to Make a Dish Less Spicy

What we’re watching: How a Texas BBQ Joint Makes 1400lbs of Brisket

Food science: How to sauté

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