{ Odds & Ends Chicken Salad Sammies }

Lunch from the discard pile. “If you served these up to a hard-working partner or tucked them into the lunch of a ravenous child, they would be none the wiser that the bobs and bits that make it delicious are from the discard pile.

Yes, you read that right.

If you read, and made, the recipe I shared last week called “Rotisserie Chicken & Sheet Pan Veggies” you’ll notice that it calls for removing the exterior leaves of your cabbage, the tops of your carrots & beets and setting those aside. This is what they are intended for. Surely, you can compost them, but why not make the most of what you have and whip up this delicious chicken salad instead?

Frugal is my favorite F-word. I feel strongly that unless you were raised by a really frugal mom or a farming mama, odds are you probably waste far more than you think you do without even giving it a second thought. Do you know that many vegetable parts that are normally thrown into the discard pile ( cabbage heart, beet tops, potato skins, carrot shavings, kohlrabi leaves, the outer shell of shelling peas, onion skins & garlic skins ) can all be used to make a delicious vegetable stock that would put any grocery bought stock to shame?!

I’ll be sharing my recipe soon, but the gist of it is pop all those bits – and any other clean, unmolded veggie bits – into the freezer (instead of the bin) as you cook and once you have enough to fill your biggest pot, pull them out, cover with water, add a good pinch – or two – of salt and simmer on low until the broth turns a beautiful golden brown color.

You can then use this broth to make a multitude of dishes, but that’s a conversation for another day!

Back to our chicken salad. The recipe isn’t a precise one, I aim for roughly as much veg as there is chicken and adjust the amount of dressing based on what is in the bowl. So that being said, I’m going to give you ratios for this recipe instead of an actual recipe.

You can’t get it wrong. There is absolutely no way of making this dish bad. So play with it a little.” — Melanie Villenueve, of The Northern Table

Thank you Mel for sharing your wonderful recipe and passion for no waste with us! You inspire. Check out her blog for more CSA inspired recipes which she develops for many local Edmonton farms– we feel honoured to be one of them. In the meantime, enjoy this fresh and tasty combo!