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You Can Cook With That!

Guest Blogger: Katie Repsis. Millennial. Fort Collins, Colorado

Black rice I cooked in water and olive brine, sauteed veggies, pumpkin seeds and fresh Cilantro for lunch.


ZW Tip: Use  olive juice/brine for cooking.  I love a dirty martini every once in a while, but not enough to use all the brine from olive jars.  So, I’ve started implementing it into recipes. Last night I added Kalamata brine to my rice for part of the liquid.  When I cooked my rice I added 1 cup water and 1/2 cup of the olive brine to 1 cup rice. The rice came out delicious! Just remember, don’t salt the food before you taste it, because the brine is salty.


You can use leftover liquids that come in pickles, olives, peppers, etc.  It’s typically a mix of oil, vinegar, salt and some herbs.  The list is endless to what you can add these to.  Add it to basic salad dressing, cook with rice, drizzle over hummus and veggies, cook with quinoa for added flavor and of course add it to cocktails like a dirty martini or bloody Mary.

So, don’t pour that liquid down the sink and experiment with adding it to recipes and it’s an easy, tasty way to reduce food waste. Has anyone else tried this in recipes besides cocktails? Please share in the comments what you like to add leftover liquid from olives, pickles, peppers, etc to!


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