Commuter cookingThe trick to good mid-week eating is not to overshop . . . and don't forget the leftovers, writes Catherine Cleary
How about this for a time-saving idea? At the packing stage in the supermarket, take one shopping bag and put every third item into it. Tie this bag up securely. When you get home walk straight to your bin and drop in the unopened bag of food.
Crazy and obscenely wasteful? Yes, but it is what most people do, according to a recent British survey. A third of all the food we buy ends up in the bin, meets its demise at the bottom of the fridge or inches past its use-by date at the back of the cupboard.
A time and motion expert would recommend cutting out all that unpacking, placing carefully in the veg drawer and thinking warm thoughts about the wholesome meals. Just bin the food straight away and cut out all that wasted time and energy.
One of the best ways to eat well when you return home after a long day and an exhausting commute is to eat food that was cooked when you had more time.
That leftover Sunday chicken in the fridge can make a tasty supper on a Monday evening. Fry some juicy leg, breast or wing meat with garlic and onion and eat with a salad.
Slice open a pitta bread, sprinkle with the cooked chicken and cheese and give it five minutes under the grill, with a drizzle of good olive oil on the top. Two meals, and enough bones for a good stock, certainly takes the sting out of the price of an organic bird.
Part of the problem is that the salad you felt so virtuous buying looks like too much like work when you are hungry and tired. A bottle of home-made vinaigrette is the solution. It will make even the healthiest leaves taste moreish.
The other way to avoid binning a third of the weekly shop is to shop daily. Smaller shops such as fishmongers, butchers and vegetable shops are often more inspiring, and may be only a five-minute detour from the office during a lunch break. A piece of fish can be cooked in less time than it takes to reheat a processed meal.
And if the vegetable drawer is looking dangerously full, try this stock-free soup recipe so those expensive nutrients don't end up adding to your waste mountain at the end of the month.