Feed the world… or the office for starters

In celebration of World Food Day, 4Food invoked the Harvest Festival vibe of old, catering the office lunch hour with the remnants of our collective cupboards


World Food Day focuses much needed attention on the very real hunger crisis faced by millions of people across the globe. It’s a good excuse for all of us to halt our non-stop scoffing and take time to reflect on the folly of our wasteful food consumption.

Unlike Midge and Bono, we stopped short of trying to feed the world and instead concentrated our efforts on feeding our office, with the various odds and end left languishing in our cupboards at home. Rather than splash our cash in the local lunchtime eateries we vowed to make the most of leftovers that otherwise would end up in the bin.

The request got a mixed reception initially, with schoolday memories of pilchards and custard needing some heavyweight PR. But after exorcising various Harvest Festival horrors with some gruelling group therapy the office eventually got on board.

Here’s what we got:
1 x tin beef and vegetable soup
2 x tin sweetcorn
1 x tin tuna
1 x tin sardines
1 x tin chickpeas
1 mini tin spicy chilli paste
1 x packet boquerones
1 x box pasta
½ packet couscous
½ packet polenta
½ jar curry paste
½ packet spinach
5 mushrooms
2 chillies
Some anya potatoes
1 x tin of mystery
1 x tin peaches
Garlic paste
Creamed coconut
Some cinnamon sugar
The remnants of a bottle of port
Half a pot of Hellmann’s mayo

Cinnamon sardines
We had 10 hungry mouths to feed and had promised them a lunch of at least two courses. With no concoction utilising all the ingredients immediately springing to mind, we opted for some Spanish-style tapas action served up buffet style with a humble peach pud for dessert.

The menu included a beef chilli pasta utilising the canned soup and port, some spicy chickpeas with shredded spinach, sardine pasta with the blow-your-head-off chilli paste, grilled polenta cakes with a little extra spice, couscous with tuna, sweetcorn and chilli, mushrooms, spinach and garlic boqerones, all finished off with grilled coconut peaches topped with cinnamon sugar.

OK so it was a bit of a spicy carb fest and admittedly the plates came across somewhat beige (as every buffet lunch should) but on the whole it was a success. It’s amazing the difference a little spice makes and forcing ingredients to work harder often makes for crisper, cleaner tastes.

Perhaps our office is an atypical bunch of frivolous, throw-away folk who care less than the average man about hunger and waste. But I doubt it. All of the ingredients were the classic contenders left festering forgotten at the back of the cupboard. With £10 billion of food wasted in Britain every year it’s time to make the most of those pilchards and pickles.

Check out our recipes below and let us know if you think you could have done better.

Browse 4Food’s luscious leftover recipes

Read more about Britain’s food waste

Recipes

Curried chickpeas with spinach
Boil the chickpeas in a pan of water for about 5 minutes or until tender.
Drain then stir in two handfuls of pre-washed spinach and a generous teaspoon of curry paste.

Spicy tuna couscous
Make the couscous as per packet instructions. Finely chop a fresh red chilli, drain 1 can of tuna and two cans of sweetcorn and stir through the couscous. Feel free to perk up the couscous with vinegar and stock should you have any to hand.

Chilli beef pasta with port
Cook the pasta as per packet instructions. Pour over a can of beef and vegetable soup. Add a generous splash of port and heat through, stirring occasionally.

Spinach, mushroom and garlic boquerones
Scatter uncooked spinach across a plate. Heat a tbsp olive oil in a pan, add chopped mushrooms, garlic paste and parsley (if you have some). Remove from pan and scatter over spinach. Place boquerones into pan and return to heat for 2 or 3 minutes. When heated through add to the spinach and mushrooms.

Spicy sardine pasta
Cook pasta as per packet instructions. Stir in tinned sardines, 1 tablespoon spicy chilli paste and a handful of washed spinach.

Curried potato salad
Wash potatoes and cook in boiling water for 20 minutes or until tender. Drain and leave to cool. Stir in 4 tablespoons mayonnaise and 2 tablespoons curry paste.

Grilled coconut peaches with cinnamon sugar
Drain peaches and place in an ovenproof dish. Crumble creamed coconut into a jug and add a splash of milk to make a runny paste. Pour over the peaches, cover with a generous sprinkle of cinnamon sugar and grill until golden brown.

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