I was shocked to hear on Danish TV that many Danes throw out food routinely and unceremoniously on a daily basis for the simple reason that “they can afford buying some other food tomorrow”. Words fail me.

I have always found food waste unethical and immoral, not to mention largely unnecessary.

Of course, it can happen that food becomes unsafe to eat, but with a bit of planning, it can and should be avoided most of the time.

One way is don’t buy more than you know, or think, you are going to eat. But as we all know, not all days go according to plan.

Here is another way:

A couple of days before going away for four days, I realised that I would not be eating at home any more till after my trip, and I had far too many vegetables still to use.

I love one-pot meals which can go in the freezer in portions. That way I can always pull a healthy, tasty dinner out on days where I know I will be too tired, or just too plain lazy to cook.

Here is what I did:

Two red onions and quite a lot of ginger – coarsely chopped and sizzled in some oil – practically all my one-pot meals start that way. (The garlic comes later, since it cooks very quickly).

Added two tblsp mustard seeds and two tblsp fenugreek seeds, stirred, then about a third of a tube of tomato paste, stirred, and a tub of goat yoghurt nearing its sell-by date, some water, and five bayleaves.

I then added a heaped tsp of turmeric (and don’t forget a healthy dose of freshly ground black pepper if you want the health benefits of turmeric) and the same amount of moringa powder, and a tblsp chili flakes.

Here, I added a handful of uncooked red split lentils (they will cook while simmering), some thyme sprigs from the balcony, and a glass (previously opened) of black olives about two-thirds full, and half a small glass of tahini, also previously opened, so that it would probably not keep for another week.

In went, in that order, sliced or diced: Five carrots, one sweet potato, one kohlrabi, one aubergine, two red bell peppers, and half an iceberg salad (the root end), one lemon in slices (organic like everything else, of course – never use the peel of a lemon for ANYTHING unless it is organic) and a whole head of garlic.

And finally, some leftover, cooked millet and some leftover “paleo” (mostly nuts and seeds) bread, diced. Simmered till everything is done. Stir frequently, and any hint of anything catching on the bottom, add some water. Or a tin of tomatoes. Or a tin of coconut cream. Or both. It will only get yummier.

I did not this time, but had I had a bit of peanut butter in need of being used up, I would have thrown that in as well.

Voilà, it would not win a beauty contest, but nevertheless several complete, tasty and very healthy dinners for the freezer.