In the UK households waste 6.5 million tonnes of food a year, of which 4.5 million tonnes is edible.. In the last year over the pandemic we were often forced to examine our grocery and shopping habits due to lockdown whether that was due to not being as able to access our shops and supermarkets as often as usual or simply facing empty shelves when we do get there. We need to get back to a more sustainable way of eating which benefits both ourselves and our planet - compleating,

Compleating is simple. It's about eating the whole ingredient or food and letting no edible part go to waste.. Getting the best value from the food you buy, making the most of our foods nutrients, saving the hassle of peeling and unlocking a whole load of flavour potential .It also reduces food waste to even zero in the case of some ingredients.

The suggestions and ideas it contains are well thought out and wonderfully creative and avoid the cliche of banana bread , pesto and breadcrumbs - though excellent recipes for these are also included. Why not take a excursion into the experimental? - pea pod tempura, banana peel 'bacon' or pickled watermelon rind.. The author has even found ways to utilise ingredients not suitable for human consumption such a onion skin dye and steamed beet leaf dog food that sound equally appealiing. I'm almost tempted to try the pumpkin, oat and turmeric dog treats!

Previous food waste reduction titles and articles from the likes of Jamie Oliver and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall have mainly concentrated on meat and fish so I was delighted to see that finally there is a plant based option for myself and fellow vegans. .I look forward to testing out many of the suggestions in this beautifully illustrated book

This book reads like an encyclopedia of food usage. It truly shows you how to avoid food waste in the kitchen and it's perfect for people who want to do what they can to combat the throw-away culture in which we all live. If you are looking for a way to eat tasty food while reducing your carbon footprint, then this book is definitely for you! It includes dates when fruits and vegetables are in-season which means you can buy them locally and further reduce your carbon footprint by buying local, fresh produce. Fresh produce is going to translate into tastier food. The section on an ingredient is broken down into categories on how to use the item (e.g., flesh, peel, core), as well as helpful tips on keeping it fresh, nutritional benefits, and what is edible/useful. I especially liked the contents being sorted alphabetically by ingredient, as it saves you the hassle of going to the index every time when searching for an ingredient.

Some of my favorite recipes are the roasted aubergine topped dahl, the guacamole with the homemade tortilla chips, and the homemade falafels. I will definitely be buying this cookbook!

Review given freely in exchange for receiving the ARC from Netgalley.

This book is very informative for new vegans. I think that there are many new no waste tips as well. Everything is so detailed. I would definitely recommend this for any one I know who is trying to eat more plant based and be more sustainable with their lives.

The Complete Book of Vegan Compleating is an interesting concept and recipe book aimed at using all parts of your fruit and veg, especially the bits you would normally throw away. It is definitely a book of our time and will interest many vegans (and none vegans !) trying to do their bit for the planet. There are new and interesting ideas, and some, such as using banana skins are intriguing. There are lots of recipes, lots of information and a good helping of innovative ideas. I did think the presentation could have been a bit more enticing though by using some illustrations or photographs. Overall a very good, and planet friendly book and resource.

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book wasn't for me. I'm very visual when it comes to cooking and food and there aren't any pictures or anything in this book.

That being said the book is pretty thorough. It's broken down by food and talks about different ways to use each vegetable. There's typically a standard recipe and information on using the full plant. It's helpful, but was a little overwhelming as a beginner and I would have liked pictures to help identify each part of the plant and what each recipe should look like.

Overall an informative read.

I really enjoyed this book. I am a vegan and am always looking for new recipes and new ways to use things that I would normally throw away. This book has very unique ideas that I have never thought about using before. Some of them were very intriguing like using a banana peel in recipes.

What I appreciate about this book is that it not only gives you recipes but it also gives you information on the food. The book is separated and organized into each food, which is very useful and helpful. All you have to do is scroll (for the ebook version) or flip the page (for a physical copy) until you reach the food item you are looking for. I really enjoyed having this aspect into the book because there are some foods that I never use or don't like the taste of and so it's easy just to skip that section or find the section on foods that I use a lot of. Then once on that food, it goes on to talk about how to use the edible parts of that food. It tells you the benefits of eating that food and goes on to tell you how to use each part of that food, like the flesh, the peel, the leaves, etc. Then at the end, there are some very delicious-sounding recipes.

I have to admit some of the recipes I am skeptical of trying but others I am very intrigued and I'm probably going to try some of the recipes today. This is a great tool to keep using define new innovative uses that will not only provide you some new recipes and projects to try but will also limit your amount of waste. I really like this book and all of the clever ideas it includes.

A book on how to avoid wasting food. I didn't get very far with it in fact this is one of the few books that I did not finish. I lost interest in the book very early.