Share your most delicious and/or ingenious leftovers recipes!
I had a ton of rice left from Thai takeout. Fried rice did not appeal, so I hit upon the idea of a savory rice pudding
About 1lb of cooked rice (cooked weight)
2 eggs, beaten
¾ cup milk or Half n Half
1 cup grated cheese (I used italian blend)
½ bag frozen corn (or cooked fresh)
chopped chives or scallions
chopped parsley
salt & pepper & any other seassonaings - I used onion salt
Mix it all together; let it stand for about 2hrs to absorb, tip into greased bakeware and top with your favorite cheese; bake on 425 for about 45m Take out of oven. Eat & with a salad / roasted veggies or your fave meat / fish Enjoy!
The following is a flexible, non-recipe kind of meal common in our kitchen.
If we have leftover meat (chicken, pork chops, brats) with portion that is too small to feed two as a standalone entree, we do a frypan saute. Usually we start with onions and zoodles (spiraled zuchhini, fresh or frozen) or riced cauliflower (fresh or frozen) but sometimes we use leftover pasta.
We may add peppers or other fridge items. Maybe jarred garlic too. After sauteed’d, we add canned tomatoes or jarred tomato sauce… turn down heat and let sauce thicken. Often we will add some frozen shrimp and/or scallops, especially if the meat leftovers were especially slim.
Samin Nosrat said if you have a leftover grain (rice, potatoes, couscous) your meal is 75% there. Add some combo of veggies/protein/sauce and you have a meal.
Well, there’s tomorrow’s dinner - leftover ground beef, curry couscous and asian vegetables … all rescued from the freezer when the power went out. Now that there are just two of us and we eat less, I’m finding that I need to plan for leftovers for 1-2 meals for every “new” meal I serve. Trying to mix it up so we don’t get bored.
I love leftovers. DH isn’t crazy about them, so I sometimes have to serve them in a different format. We had leftover grilled chicken that we have no business wasting. So I shredded it up, made a tasty chicken salad, and served it to him as a sandwich with fresh strawberries and cream. He didn’t realize it was the chicken from last night-guess he thought I bought it already made.
Mostly I eat my leftovers unchanged. If a meal is worth eating once it’s worth eating twice is my motto. One thing to keep in mind about stir fries and fried rice is they don’t have to go with Asian spicing. I’ve used grilled veg and barbecue sauce, or curry spices, or middle eastern mixes. And as someone said up thread any grain is good.
As a youngster, my daughter did not understand why I served lasagna and crockpot pot roast (my main go-to, leftovers as “freebie” 2nd meal). Then there was a period where SHE was in charge of shopping/cooking, and she said “Now I get it”. (She and brother with same gig a few years later served frozen pot pies and pizza more than I ever did… but I let that slide. They both hated cleanup and became quite proficient on the bbq grill. )
Well, my leftovers tonight might have been described as “fusion” by the reviewers, but by the diners they were described as “weird combination but edible”
Last night, we had leftover steak from the night before. I sauteed mushrooms, bell peppers, onions & garlic then added about half a cup of cream, reduced it down sliced the steak and poured the sauce over the top on a bed of rice. H enjoyed it and didn’t have a clue!
Leftover pork tenderloin or steak often become paninis. Carmelize a couple of onions, add a slice of cheese and put it on whatever bread you have available (we love to use ciabatta but have used naan or even a hamburger bun in a pinch). If you have chicken breast you can add a bit of marinara sauce and fresh basil for a chicken parm panini.
I made a tiramisu using leftover biscuits! I made it exactly the same way as I would a typical tiramisu and substituted crumbled (stale) biscuits for the ladyfingers.
My H was complaining the biscuits were dry; I solved that by soaking the biscuit crumbles in espresso & Bailey’s and he didn’t have a clue!
@colorado_mom We do have a small (cheap!) panini maker, but you could use a grill pan or even a regular frying pan and then put something heavy on top (a brick wrapped in foil, or a smaller pan with something heavy on top) - but you would have to flip it halfway through. I think a George Forman Grill would work, too.
I had about two cups of apple cider in my fridge, leftover from when S was here. I wouldn’t drink it, and I really didn’t want to throw it away, so I made an Apple Cider Cake. With the spices and chopped apples, It’s so perfectly ‘Fall’ I am making another for Thanksgiving, in place of pecan pie
We bought a 16 lb turkey for the two of us (plus perhaps daughter too if we decide to brave the cool weather for backyard meal or food handoff). We do like to have leftovers in the freezer, but tomorrow I am going to ask a neighbor that lives alone if she’d like a meal delivery on Thursday.