We're all getting a little more inventive in the kitchen these days, and as the saying goes, necessity is the mother of invention. Proving that is Nadiya Hussain, the Great British Bake Off champ who has wowed audiences by creating a scrumptious-looking burger filling from leftover banana skin.
During an appearance on Good Morning Britain, Hussain explained that it isn't a new trick she's developed in lockdown, but rather a favourite kitchen hack of hers.
"I've been cooking banana peel forever", she said. "We've always been cooking banana peel. "It's something completely natural to me, and I thought to myself 'Hold on a second, you need to share this.'"
Her recipe comes at the best time as seemingly half the country is busy whipping up banana bread, leaving the nutritious peels behind.
Hussain starts off by browning off some diced onion, before adding garlic. Shred the banana skin with a fork and add it to the onion and garlic mixture, cooking it down for five minutes. For flavour, add in barbeque sauce, ketchup and brown sauce, as well as salt and pepper.
Hussain adds it to a burger bun for her take on vegetarian pulled pork or chicken. Topped with cheese and your usual fixings, it could be an eco-friendly and delicious spring lunch.
But that's not all she's whipping up, as Hussain is a pro at stretching her ingredients as far as they'll go. She said that she'll make "scrap soup" using up the ends of vegetables and potato peels, all as part of getting people to "change the way we think about food".
"What we have to do is not worry about cooking these amazing meals and shift the way we think about food and waste. Think about what we would normally put in a compost bin and think, what can we do with it?
"That's what we're doing, I'm using social media as a tool. We're making scrap soup, putting potato peels and all the ends in a big freezer bag. I think we need to stop and think about what we're throwing away and think about how we can use it."
