AILSA CHANG, HOST:
Are you chopping onions for dinner right now? Because if you are, do not chuck those scraps.
JESSICA DAMIANO: There are a lot of secondary uses for plants that we usually throw out. Or if we're gardeners, we may even compost them, but we can eat a lot of them, too.
JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
Jessica Damiano is a garden coach and author of The Weekly Dirt newsletter.
DAMIANO: And that's economical, especially now with the food prices rising. It's nice to be able to save some money and repurpose things instead of just throwing things out.
CHANG: She keeps her eyes peeled - get it? - for opportunities.
DAMIANO: This summer, I went to a farmers market, and I was buying beets. So I picked out a bunch and I handed them to the guy at the table, and he chopped the greens off, and in one fell swoop he was putting them in the garbage. I was like, wait, I'll take those.
SUMMERS: And in a flash, Damiano took that roughage and made it refined.
DAMIANO: So I roast the roots, but then I also saute the greens with olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic (laughter). Like, so I cook everything. Olive oil, salt, pepper and garlic. And it's delicious, and I get a second side dish from the same plant. You buy one vegetable, you get two side dishes. You can't beat that, right?
CHANG: Right. And another double-dipper? Fig trees. Fig season has long passed, but if your tree has still got green leaves, you can make tea from them.
DAMIANO: Rinse them, pat them dry, and then place them in a food dehydrator or an air fryer or even an oven set at 200 degrees. Leave them there for several hours - this is going to take a while because it's low heat - and leave them there until they're crispy. Not brown, just crunchy so that you can crumble them up and then store them in a glass jar. And when you want a cup of something hot and delicious, take a heaping tablespoon of them and steep it in boiling water for 10 minutes, and you'll swear you're drinking a sweetened coconut vanilla infusion.
SUMMERS: Sounds amazing. Damiano's tips will help you stretch your food budget, but they're also about beauty. Check out this one.
CHANG: If you're hosting this holiday season, you can level up your cocktails, or mocktails, with organic, edible flower petals. She suggests pansies or violets.
DAMIANO: You just put a blossom in every compartment of an ice cube tray, fill it with water, and put it in the freezer. It's very pretty, and everybody will be so impressed.
SUMMERS: I know I certainly would be. That is garden columnist Jessica Damiano with a variety of ideas to help you set your table. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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