Deacon Dining Waste Reduction Recipe Innovation

A three-day development session was held May 24th-26th, 2022 where WFU culinary professionals joined other institutions in the Harvest Table Culinary Group in Rochester, NY for a recipe innovation session.

The education was centered around reducing waste at the farm level. The subject experts speaking to the team were Headwater Food Hub &  Spare Food Co. and the team also had the opportunity to tour Autumn’s Harvest Farm & Muranda Cheese. The ingredients used by the chefs were provided by the Spare Food Company’s, Spare Starter.

The Spare Starter is a versatile, six-ingredient nutritious meal that offers a world of culinary opportunities for professional chefs. The best part is that it’s created using surplus produce from local farms that would otherwise not have been sold.

The Deacon Dining team learned many ways to utilize the spare starter including:

• As a filling for an omelet or a frittata
• Mixed with ricotta and basil for ravioli, cannelloni or lasagna
• Blended with black beans and harissa for a spicy vegetable burger
• As a base for a vegetarian chili or substitute for ground meat in chili
• pizza topping or panini filling
• Sautéed with ground beef or turkey for a rich Spaghetti Bolognese
• Blended with stock and cooked barley for a vegetable barley soup
• Mixed with sautéed ground tempeh and a little barbecue sauce for a
  vegan Sloppy Joe filling