We Believe in Plant-Powered Food

Tomatoes are best stored at 55 degrees. Colder temps in the refrigerator will slow ripening, so store less ripe tomatoes on the counter or plan to pull tomatoes from the refrigerator a day or two before using. 

Some like to peel and seed tomatoes to make for smoother tomato sauces. However, the peels include fiber and flavonoids, so give it a second thought before you discard them!

As delicious as tomatoes are, they can be challenging to grow. Be sure to read up on the best variety for you, how to set yourself up for success, and keep an eye out for problems before they happen.

Making sure you get the most out of each beet — and using parts of the veggie that we typically throw away — begins with having the right tools. So, we recommend you grab your best beet slicer or knife, as well as a handy vegetable peeler and cutting board.

With your beet slicer or knife, cut the root and stem ends off the beet and peel the skin using your vegetable peeler. But remember, don’t throw the root and stem ends out! You’ll want to dice those up and include them in your recipe in one way or another.

Place the beet flat-side down on the cutting board and cut into slices. Once you have your slices, stack them next to each other and cut them crosswise to dice. And just like that, you’ve got plenty of beets to use in a salad, on a sandwich, or for something totally different and unexpected (beet hummus, perhaps?).

To prep your pumpkin, simply cut your pumpkin in half. Scoop out the seeds until you have a bowl shape and set your seeds to the side. Preset your oven to 350 degrees and proceed to the next step.

Once your pumpkins are cooked, the skin will be tender, edible, and delicious.To make this recipe your own, add in a mixture of spices, veggies, and rice to create a no waste stuffed pumpkin. If you’re not sure where to start, try using wild rice, mushroom, sage, and vegetable stock.

Don’t throw out the seeds, pumpkin seeds make a great healthy snack. Wash your seeds and preheat your oven to 300 degrees. Place your pumpkins onto a baking sheet and add oil, salt, and seasoning to your liking and bake for 20 minutes. Now you have two dishes and no waste.

When it comes to corn, it’s tempting to fall into the simple shuck-and-chuck routine. But there’s actually so much more you can do with corn husks. From using washed husks as a presentation element to using them as wrappers for tamales or grilled fish, the ways to reuse corn husks are vast and varied.

After shucking your corn (and saving your husks), take a good kitchen knife and cut the stem off. If you don’t plan on cooking and serving the corn right away, place the ears in boiling water for a few minutes and then drop them into ice water until cool.

Take the ear of corn and place the cut side flat on a cutting board. With the ear in one hand and a knife in the other, begin cutting downwards on the ear in a sawing motion, and repeat this until all the corn is removed. Now, you have all the corn you need for anything from a simple side dish to a tasty dessert like sweet corn cake.

Getting the most out of this veggie doesn’t require more than a knife. Like beets, the entirety of a carrot is edible so save and don’t shave the skin. You will, however, want a knife to cut the tops of your carrot off. But don’t throw them away, you can still use them to create a delicious pesto sauce.

Since we’re no longer shaving our carrot make sure you wash it thoroughly to get off any dirt. Time to cut your carrots to your liking. You can slice, dice, or cut your carrots into chunks. Add your carrots to any meal for a perfect dose of vitamin A and sweetness.

Carrot tops are loaded with vitamins so don’t throw them away. Instead, blanch your tops for three minutes or until they’re tender. Then add them to a food processor with some garlic, tree nuts, olive oil, and a bit of lemon juice and voila, you’ve made pesto with no waste along the way!

Like beets and corn, getting the most out of your red bell peppers requires the right kitchen tools. So, you’ll want to be prepared with a good, sharp kitchen knife in addition to a cutting board and bowl.

There are four common ways to cut bell peppers to get as much as possible from the veggie. You can dice them up, slice them into long strips, slice them into rings, or simply cut the top off if you’re making stuffed peppers.

Besides simply trying to replant your red bell pepper seeds, there are a number of fun ways to add them into your food recipes. Our favorite is to include them in a variety of tasty salads — from your traditional garden greens to quinoa and couscous salads — for a subtle crunch and revitalizing kick.

You can keep the bean inside the pod when cooking, which we find has a more distinct flavor than when shelled. The pods also give a fun way to eat the beans — you can pop them out with your fingers or you can bite the beans into your mouth for a burst of flavor (if pods were seasoned).

Edamame can be cooked in so many different ways. You can boil them (in the pods) in water for about 5-10 minutes, drain, and season with some salt. Or you can steam them — also 5-10 minutes — and season with salt, red pepper flakes, and lemon juice. Or you can bake them at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes and toss them with olive oil, salt, and garlic.

Edamame is incredibly versatile, so you can spice it up however you want for the perfect snack. Experiment with some spices like cumin or rosemary or ginger — whatever flavor combos you love. They also go great with chickpeas (roast them together for a crunchy snack), on salad for an extra helping of fiber, or mixed in with white rice.

Like beets and carrots, you can eat the entire vegetable — skin and all. You’ll want to have a peeler to get the make the skins thin like a chip, a knife for cutting up the potato, and masher (or a fork if you don’t have one) to mash up the insides. You could also use a spoon to scoop out the insides if you decide to leave the skins on.

Roast the sweet potatoes for 45-60 minutes at 350 — you should be able to stick a fork in the potato and pull it out easily. Once cooled, cut the potatoes in half and scoop out the insides into a bowl. Prepare them the same way you would with regular mashed potatoes and mash. Then fill the skins, top with cheese, and bake at 350 again for 10-15. Voila!

Peel the skins from the potato and put them in a bowl. Toss them with olive oil, salt, pepper, and basil and spread them out on a baking tray. Put them into an oven heated at 400 degrees and bake for 20 minutes (time may differ depending on how thick or thin the skins are). Take them out of the oven, let them cool, and enjoy.