So you’re at a Vietnamese restaurant. Your dinner comes with a plate of assorted herbs, bean sprouts, and the like to garnish your pho. You may only use a few of the greens. Save the leftovers from going into the compost bin or trash: Take them home and use them for another meal or two. That’s what we did with the leftover herb plate from our dinner at Seven Beef.
Our “doggie bag” contained Boston lettuce, mint, perilla, Thai basil, bean sprouts, pineapple, pickled carrot and daikon, cucumber, rice noodles, and a few apple slices. My original thought was to make fresh spring rolls; however, we didn’t get home from our coffee run downtown in time. I wound up making shrimp hot and sour soup and cucumber salad for dinner. We had some shrimp in the freezer that I thawed overnight. I had some tomatoes, pineapple, scallions, and cucumbers at home that needed to be used. I managed to repurpose all of the ingredients into either the soup or salad. Bringing the leftover herb plate home meant I didn’t have to make a special trip to the Asian grocery to get those ingredients. More often than not, I don’t use a full bag of bean sprouts or bunch of cilantro before it goes bad. A small amount works best for our household.
There’s no reason why the garnishes and accompaniments can’t come home from a restaurant with the main dish. You paid for those items, too. Bring them home and reduce food waste.
Recent Comments