Veggie and "meatball" stroganoff

"Love food hate waste" is the name of a website after my own heart.   I used to live somewhere with compost collection, but now have moved elsewhere, and -- living in a flat -- any bad, spoiled, or otherwise no good food is destined for the dump.  A very sad end to their salad days to be sure.

I try to minimize such waste.  I freeze things whenever I can, try to be creative with my leftovers, and eat through as much as possible ("You mean that slice of cake will go to waste if I don't eat it?  I suppose for the good of all humanity I will force it down.  Oh the pain.").  

This particular dish came about from the last quarter of a tub of creme fraiche.  It began its days contributing to a pasta sauce, expended yet more of itself on some strawberries and brown sugar, but spent the rest of its life languishing in my fridge without a purpose.  It was getting to the point where I would either have to use it or throw it out, so I began fishing around the kitchen for other ingredients to accompany it to its final destination.

I decided to go with something warm and rich to balance out the tangy creaminess of the creme fraiche.  A little paprika and some tomatoes would make a delicious sauce for something, and the combination made me think of beef stroganoff.  No beef in the house, but a few sausages from the freezer made a good substitution.  Some vegetables rounded out the meal, and voila: waste not, want certainly not.

Veggie and "meatball" stroganoff

1 tsp. olive oil

1 leek, cleaned, halved lengthwise and cut into 1 inch pieces

1 carrot, diced

1 large clove garlic, minced

1 Tbsp. each hot smoked paprika and sweet paprika

Approx. 2 C. cauliflower florets

3-4 medium tomatoes, roughly chopped, or 1/2 can chopped tomatoes and juice

1/4 C. low fat creme fraiche or Greek yogurt

1/4 C. tomato paste

1/2 C. water

2-4 sausages, as desired, cut into bite-sized pieces.

1/2 C. zucchini, sliced into thin half moons

1 tsp. salt

Parsley

Squeeze of lemon

Saute leeks and carrots in oil for 5-10 minutes until soft.  Add garlic and cook until soft.  Add paprika and cook for 2-3 minutes until fragrant.  Add tomatoes.  Mix creme fraiche and tomato paste and add to pan with water.  Add cauliflower, then nestle the sausage among the vegetables and let the dish simmer until the sausage is cooked through.  Add zucchini, cook until just tender.  Salt to taste.  

Garnish with parsley and a squeeze of lemon.  Serve over brown rice if desired, or noodles!

Serves 2-4, depending on size of appetite.