Cape Byron Medical Dietitian Luca Georgiou shares some COVID-19 food and diet advice (as well as an awesome recipe).

“Australia has an extremely secure food system,” Luca says. “Although there have been shortages in supermarkets in recent weeks, these are due to an increase in demand, not an issue with our supply.

“With that being said, during these uncertain times many people will be relying on more affordable and shelf-stable ingredients, such as rice, pasta, frozen and canned vegetables.”

Here are Luca’s tips to reduce food waste and make things stretch a little further over the coming weeks:

1. Bulk out your Bolognese sauce or beef chilli with lots of lentils and beans
2. If you are cooking with fresh vegetables, save the bits you’d normally chuck out (like broccoli stalks) and freeze them. You can use these later to make a veggie stew.
3. Stretch out your fresh fruit’s shelf life by storing them separately (not in the same fruit bowl). Fresh fruit stored all together will ripen faster, due to the production of ethylene gas.
4. Store fresh herbs wrapped in slightly damp paper towel inside a ziplock bag. This will keep them fresh for two weeks or more
5. Place any vegetables that begin to look limp or shriveled in some cold water and watch them come back to life.

Give this super easy and versatile Smoky Baked Beans recipe at try.

Smoky Baked Beans

Olive oil

1 onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 tsp. cumin

1 tsp. smoked paprika

1/2 tsp. chilli flakes (optional)

1 can beans (you could use kidney beans, cannellini beans, butter beans, pinto beans, navy beans – whatever you have the cupboard!)

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 can tomatoes

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 tablespoon. soy sauce or Worcestershire or tamari (again, whatever is in the cupboard!)

1 tsp. white vinegar (or apple cider vinegar, balsamic vinegar or lime juice)

Method

1. Cook onion and garlic in olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat for five minutes, or until softened
2. Add spices and cook for 1 minute, stirring continuously.
3. Add all other ingredients and bring to the boil. Reduce heat and allow to simmer for 10-15 minutes or until sauce has thickened.

These beans can be served with toast, rice or quinoa.

Try adding two boiled or poached eggs for a heartier meal.

Alternatively, stuff inside a baked whole sweet potato and top with cheese.

TIP: The beans freeze well, so you can double or triple the recipe and freeze a portion for later.