These past few weeks I’ve been discovering new uses for waste bits of vegetables that often get thrown out with the rubbish, writes Sheena Grant.

I’ve got stilton and broccoli soup in the fridge, made, largely, with the stalk of the vegetable rather than the florets. (Next time, however, I think I’ll cut the broccoli in rounds rather than strips, as there are, I have to admit, a few unpalatable stringy bits in what should be a smooth soup.)

And this week I’ve found what is so far my favourite, tastiest and most successful use for waste vegetable pieces. Rather than putting potato peelings on the compost heap, as I have until now, I’ve been making them into potato skin crisps.

I have to report they are quick and simple to make but also delicious and, assuming you don’t eat too many, good for you. Potato skins are apparently packed with fibre and a range of nutrients, including iron, vitamins C and B6, potassium and calcium. I can’t believe I’ve been throwing away such a nutritious food source for so long!

To make my “crisps”, I took the peelings of a few potatoes, brushed them with a little vegetable oil and fried them in a non-stick pan on the hob for a few minutes. (I guess you could also deep-fry them or roast them in the oven.) When they were cooked I turned them out onto a piece of kitchen roll to get rid of any excess grease (there wasn’t much) and sprinkled them with a little salt, let them cool and ate them.

I doubt I’ll ever have to buy crisps again!

I’m already dreaming up a range of other flavours to add to my next batch of potato peeling crisps – a little smoked paprika perhaps, a fine grating of Parmesan cheese or a light sprinkling of chilli powder.

And, I’m thinking, why stop with potato peelings? The peelings of a range of vegetables could get the same treatment. Carrot or parsnip peel crisps would surely be delicious too – and a lot cheaper to make than the bags of crisps made from a similar range of vegetables you can buy in the supermarkets.

The only problem for me with branching out from potato skin crisps is that I currently feed these vegetable peelings to the family guinea pigs. Now I’m thinking they’re much too good for that..

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