a particularly good meal made primarily of leftoversWith each passing week, I’m becoming more comfortable with the amount of money we seem to be spending on local, sustainable, organic food. It’s been an adjustment for sure, but I believe strongly it’s all about choices. In the recent 60 Minutes piece featuring Alice Waters, Waters notes, “we make decisions every day about what we’re going to eat. Some people want to buy Nike shoes…two pairs (This part was a bit humbling given my current shoe purchases…), and other people want to eat Brochs grapes and nourish themselves.”
That said, now that I’m regularly spending five dollars for a bunch of organic, local asparagus, I'm loathe to throw a single spear away.
Actually this isn’t so much a new thing for me. I’ve always been pretty adamant about not wasting food and a huge fan of leftovers -- almost everything tastes better the second day, no? But the "old me" would only save something if there was critical mass…enough for an actual second-day meal. Now if there’s half of an organic sweet Italian sausage and two asparagus spears leftover from Monday night’s dinner, into a little storage container they go. And as I don’t want this new found obsession to turn into an exercise in cluttering up the fridge before inevitably shoving leftovers down the garbage disposable, I’m fanatic about actually doing something with the leftovers.
I've had a few solid successes. My favorite by far had me thinly slicing the aforementioned sausage and asparagus and tossing it with some whole wheat fettuccine, a 1/2 cup or so of organic chicken broth and a handful of cherry tomatoes. I added a few leafs of basil from our little herb garden and then at the last minute folded in a heaping tablespoon of goat cheese, which made the whole dish a touch creamy and gave it a nice zing. It was the perfect amount for a solo lunch and was so good that it reappeared (but this time sans leftovers) as a Sunday dinner.
Other re-purposing wins include some leftover skirt steak + magic sauce that I tucked into a whole-wheat tortilla, adding a few leafs of arugula and a smear of sour cream. So good. Then there was the little bag of handmade pumpkin seed toffee that got incredibly hard before I could eat it all (that’s what lack of preservatives will do, fyi…) I was determined not to let it go to waste, so I smashed it into little shards with a mallet and added it to my cookie dough. It’s an almost indiscernible addition but adds a perfect caramel kick, and I’ve gotten more compliments on those cookies than ever as a result.
So…I'm curious, how are you using your leftovers these days?
That said, now that I’m regularly spending five dollars for a bunch of organic, local asparagus, I'm loathe to throw a single spear away.
Actually this isn’t so much a new thing for me. I’ve always been pretty adamant about not wasting food and a huge fan of leftovers -- almost everything tastes better the second day, no? But the "old me" would only save something if there was critical mass…enough for an actual second-day meal. Now if there’s half of an organic sweet Italian sausage and two asparagus spears leftover from Monday night’s dinner, into a little storage container they go. And as I don’t want this new found obsession to turn into an exercise in cluttering up the fridge before inevitably shoving leftovers down the garbage disposable, I’m fanatic about actually doing something with the leftovers.
I've had a few solid successes. My favorite by far had me thinly slicing the aforementioned sausage and asparagus and tossing it with some whole wheat fettuccine, a 1/2 cup or so of organic chicken broth and a handful of cherry tomatoes. I added a few leafs of basil from our little herb garden and then at the last minute folded in a heaping tablespoon of goat cheese, which made the whole dish a touch creamy and gave it a nice zing. It was the perfect amount for a solo lunch and was so good that it reappeared (but this time sans leftovers) as a Sunday dinner.
Other re-purposing wins include some leftover skirt steak + magic sauce that I tucked into a whole-wheat tortilla, adding a few leafs of arugula and a smear of sour cream. So good. Then there was the little bag of handmade pumpkin seed toffee that got incredibly hard before I could eat it all (that’s what lack of preservatives will do, fyi…) I was determined not to let it go to waste, so I smashed it into little shards with a mallet and added it to my cookie dough. It’s an almost indiscernible addition but adds a perfect caramel kick, and I’ve gotten more compliments on those cookies than ever as a result.
So…I'm curious, how are you using your leftovers these days?
I am a huge fan of leftovers. We do similar sorts of things. Leftover skirt steak or grilled pork sliced thinly and tossed in salad = yum. We almost never have leftover veggies, because I am a compulsive veggie eater, but I will usually toss them with scrambled eggs for breakfast.
ReplyDeletemy leftovers get put in a tupperware for lunch the next day or into the freezer for a future lunch.
ReplyDeleteWe too usually have any leftovers for lunch the next day. But one of my favorite snacks to come out of using up bits and bobs is a whole wheat pita smeared with roasted red pepper hummus, avocado, and sliced tomato.
ReplyDeleteWell, all we eat pretty much is leftovers :) because we (really my Love) does all of our cooking on Sundays, so we have food ready throughout the week (unless we're just doing something simple like pasta or salads or something). We love it b/c it saves us so much time in the evenings!
ReplyDeleteyes. maybe not a good thing to eat but I make a huge pot of white rice (will eat brown one of these days - just takes so long!!) and then I feed the family and myself with warmed rice for the next few days. We camped and I'd throw in some olive mix, salt,pepper, olive oil and a turkey burger or tofu or leftover chicken. I like to think of them as easy rice bowl meals.
ReplyDeleteLeftovers rock! We, too, add everything to a pasta dish or make homemade pizza. Last night's leftover asparagus and bell peppers are going into a frittata for tonight with goat cheese. Yum. I CANNOT stand to waste food!
ReplyDeleteAny interest in starting an online cooking group for moms? I have been toying with the idea since I've been following the "Tuesdays with Dorie" baking group, but have been hesitant to join. I would love to have a group where a bunch of people choose from a kid-friendly cookbook and try the recipes out on our kiddos, post on our blogs, and keep track of what they like and don't.
Kristine
Kristine, I'd definitely be interested in an online cooking group...do you have any specific cookbooks in mind?
ReplyDeleteI like Kristine's idea - a lot! I pack up our leftovers into little Rubbermaid containers and send them to work with Bryan for his lunches. He prefers this to dashing out for fast food - plus its heart healthy and budget friendly!
ReplyDeleteAh...herein lies the problem! Every "kid cookbook" I've seen doesn't thrill me. And I want to teach my little one to like what the adults are eating. I've had Bittman's How to Cook Everything on my amazon wish list for some time, but haven't been able to look through it at the bookstore. I am open to any ideas you have!
ReplyDeleteKristine
I usually have leftovers for lunch the next day. Sometimes if I make a veggie dish the night before, I will add meat to it the next day so it seems like its new. ;)
ReplyDeleteKristine -- I've been thinking a bit about this and wonder if we should forego a cookbook altogether and instead have every member of the group cook a new meal per week of their choosing based around an ingredient (i.e. week one = meat, week two = tofu, etc..etc...)
ReplyDeletewe could then take the 3-5 best, most well received recipes per ingredient and assemble a nice little compilation.
what do you think?
others?
I adore leftovers, mainly because I cannot stand waste, but also because most things taste better the next day!
ReplyDeleteLast night we had: Green rocket salad (arugula), with the following left overs tossed thru it: roasted chopped crunchy potatoes, roasted garlic, toasted pine nuts, pan fried shaved and salted courgette, and quartered mushrooms. Freshly made vinigarette tossed thru it. It was so good xxx
MLF -- that sounds like a perfect dinner. i want to eat at your house!
ReplyDeleteJoslyn-love that idea! Then busy moms can have the freedom to work around the ingredient. The "formal" groups I've seen online also post rules that if someone doesn't post anything within 2 months they're taken off of the blog roll list. I have no time to check blogs and keep track. Something less formal is appealing. I'll email you with my other ideas...
ReplyDeleteYour pasta dish looks delish! I'm loving leftovers too and I like that they force me to be a little more creative in the kitchen.
ReplyDeleteLately we've often had rice leftover from things (ie: a new veggie burger concoction) and I save the rice for the next day to make a quick "fried rice" dish for my lunch (onions, egg, rice, & whatever other veggies...all sauteed together). Any leftover wild rice I put in little containers and freeze to pull out and throw in omelets. Recently, omelets have been a weekly meal for us as they are so easy and you can put pretty much any kind of leftover veggies or cheese in them!
my leftovers last night were brilliant. We had some leftover thai food (beef with basil garlic and lots of veggies) and I put it in a cheesy quesadilla.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the omelette idea too, you can throw anything in those. If it were up to me i would eatthem all the time!
Doesn't it feel good to use up leftovers and not throw them away? I always feel guilty about throwing away food. We make use of leftovers whenever we can -- whether it's the next day for lunch or doing what you did and adding a bunch of stuff together to make a new meal.
ReplyDelete