José Andrés Suggests Making This Clever Recipe With Fridge Leftovers - Exclusive

On October 14, Hellmann's announced that they would be working with chef José Andrés to address a widespread issue across the world — food waste — with a helpful first step right in every American's kitchen. Through their new campaign, Fridge Hunters, Hellmann's and chef Andrés hope to aid in the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goal of reducing food waste by 50% by 2030 (via EPA). Because 40% of all food waste in the United States happens in homes, that's obviously a great place to start. 

Chef Andrés sat down for an exclusive interview with Mashed to discuss the impact of food waste as well as to dish on some of the "flexipes," or flexible recipes, he developed for the Hellmann's Fridge Hunters campaign. "The only thing you need to do is just open your fridge. Once you've done that, you've done the most difficult part," Andrés said. "Then you think you are going on the ride, you are going into this amazing Alice in Wonderland ride that you start going through, bring your children, bring your friends," he added. 

Of course, you can track that journey by sharing your fridge hunting meals and dishes to Instagram and TikTok. Between October 14 and 24, use #fridgehunters, #sweepstakes, and tag @Hellmannsmayonnaise for a chance to be one of three entries randomly selected for a virtual fridge hunting session with Andrés. Plus, every entry will go towards Hellmann's goal of saving one million meals. Fortunately, chef Andrés shared a recipe with us to get everyone started. 

José Andrés started out by sharing some common ingredients that many people might find in their fridge — or a similar combination. "You have the half tomato that isn't used put aside and a quarter of avocado that is getting already dark, and a quarter lemon. On the bottom is Hellmann's mayonnaise that looks like it is empty," Andrés said. "You bring those ingredients out, and in the same bottle of the mayonnaise you add some olive oil and you add some vinegar and you had some capers and they're going to be great because capers last forever. You put the capers in and you go and you start shaking it like it's a cocktail," he explained. 

Andrés went on to detail exactly what you'll get from the easy recipe. "Right there, you are making a dressing that is going to be slightly broken creamy, where the capers are going to help you to just move any sides of the mayonnaise in the bottle. You have a great dressing right there," he said. To bring it all together, he even suggested a salad to use with the dressing. "You take the avocado, the tomato, you chop it and you put it on the plate. Maybe you have one endive left. Maybe you have a piece of tuna left over. You put it on there, you pass the dressing on both. You made a salad right there," Andrés said. It's as easy as that. So, start exploring your fridge with new eyes and a lot of curiosity.

You can visit the Hellmann's website to learn how to make the most out of what's in your fridge and enter the Fridge Hunters Sweepstakes. And keep up with José Andrés by following him on Instagram.