3.14.2011

creative leftovers

Since there are only two adult eaters and one toddler eater in this home, we sometimes get sick of our leftovers before we can finish them. And sometimes it's just fun to switch things up a little. So here I present to you...two super fun and non-boring ways to eat your leftovers!

1) Put them in your eggs.

A couple nights ago we had steak and roasted vegetables for dinner. Since reheated steak is not so good, I knew I'd better do something special with it. So I chopped up the steak and heated it in my iron skillet in some coconut oil, and then added some roasted carrots and turnips (that we'd eaten with the steak the night before), along with some leftover cooked kale. Once it was all heated, I added a little more oil and a few beaten eggs, and cooked until done. At the end I shredded some raw-milk cheese on top, turned off the heat, and put a lid on it to gently melt the cheese (I didn't want to "cook" the cheese too much, since that kinda defeats the purpose of it being raw).

Steven approved off this steak & eggs variation - and eggs are a hard sell on him. We gobbled it right up!

2) Put them in a quesadilla.

This works for any grain/legume combination such as lentils and rice or quinoa with black beans, or leftover shredded chicken, or anything else that you think might go! Get yourself some authentic corn tortillas (El Milagro is a great brand if you can get your hands on them) and some muenster cheese (someday maybe I'll tell to you why muenster actually is a fairly authentic cheese for quesadillas). Layer some cheese and a bit of your leftovers into the tortilla and cook in a dry iron skillet until cheese is melted and tortilla is slightly brown. Serve it up with some salsa, plain yogurt or sour cream, and guacamole for an extra special treat. :)

What ideas do you have for creatively enjoying your leftovers?

2 comments:

  1. :) oh, the eggs trick is a big one around this house! We had made some risotto the other night and encouraged by my Martha Rose Shulman cookbook, _The Mediterranean Harvest_, we also included that in our eggs with some swiss chard (sauteed in some oil and chopped garlic for 2-3 minutes).

    As for creative leftover ideas, something that's great is using leftover rotini or penne pasta as some part of a cold salad--adding shredded carrots, peas, and dressing with perhaps some shredded chicken. And I'm actually now realizing I'm devising a brand-new recipe from some leftovers we have in our frig right now. :)

    Final thought: if you make a big pot of soup-- FREEZE IT. This is a huge time-saver for us for future meals. Taking a container out of the freezer the night before makes dinner that next evening a breeze. A large percentage of our weekly meals during busy seasons come from our frozen pantry. :)

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