After the holiday lunches and dinners, it remains to manage what is left over from the serving dishes. What to do? Wasting food is never a good action, on the contrary it is right to recover it, 'recycling' it and enjoying it again. But is it really always the right action? Sometimes leftovers can generate food risks, those deriving from their inadequate conservation, which facilitates the proliferation of pathogenic microorganisms. How to avoid getting hurt? First of all, using prudence and common sense. A decalogue of the best considerations to always keep in mind could then come in handy. Here is the advice drawn up for Adnkronos Salute by Mauro Minelli, immunologist and professor of Fundamentals of dietetics and nutrition at Lum University.
The expert has developed a real decalogue: 1) Place leftovers in the refrigerator or freezer within two hours of cooking them. Eggs, dairy products, cold cuts, leftovers and cakes should be placed on the central shelves (4-5°C) and on the highest one (8°C). The bottom drawers (up to 10°C) are intended for vegetables and fruit which could be damaged by lower temperatures; 2) Store leftovers in the refrigerator in clean containers with lids. It is advisable to divide leftover food into small portions so that it cools more quickly in the refrigerator and to consume it within two-three days;
3) Avoid cross-contamination: do not put already cooked or ready-to-eat foods (roasts, cheeses…) in contact with unwashed vegetables and fruit; 4) Cooked food leftovers must be reheated appropriately before being consumed. Soups, sauces and gravies until boiling. Other types of food, however, must be heated well, mixing so that the heating is uniform and reaches 70 – 80° C even in the heart of the food, without ever heating them more than once or mixing them with fresh foods.
And again: 5) If the leftover dish is balanced, that is, it has the right amount of carbohydrates, fats, proteins, then it can still be consumed, if it has been well preserved, perhaps combining it with a portion of raw or cooked vegetables, which would contribute to add the necessary dose of fibre; 6) If the leftover dish is very rich in fat, such as Russian salad, made of boiled vegetables and mayonnaise or fried meat or vegetables and very rich in seasonings, it is better to avoid consumption, especially so as not to repeat nutritional errors to the bitter end, which will put a strain on the burdened liver.
7) Uneaten cooked meat can be chopped, mixed with an egg, grated parmesan and some vegetables to make meatballs to be stewed or baked; 8) If you have some cooked fish left over, just fillet it and use it to create a sauce for pasta or you can make excellent fish sticks, which will certainly be appreciated by children too; 9) If you have leftover mashed potatoes, you can make delicious vegetarian burgers; 10) If the leftovers are sweets, it is better not to consume them, especially if you have exaggerated on holidays or in any case use them, always in small portions, for breakfast.
#39Recycle39 #food #leftovers #health #risks #expert39s #decalogue
