5 minute read
RENEW TIRED LEFTOVERS
Each of us has our own version of a busy week. It is not realistic to cook and prepare three meals and two snacks every single day. Knowing how to jazz up those leftover meals and ingredients is a unique skill that can save you time and money. Plus, transforming leftovers into something new helps reduce food waste.
After a meal, pack up the leftovers and get them into the fridge. Label, then store them in a place in the fridge where you won’t forget about them.
Here are a few ideas on how to give your leftovers new life.
Make them tomorrow’s lunch. Saving leftovers is a quick way to pack an easy lunch. Just pop them into your travel container and you’re ready to go! If there is not enough food for a full meal, add a salad, snack or a side to go along. Reinvent them as a casserole. We are Minnesotans, Hot Dish is in our DNA.
Freeze them. Freeze in portion sizes or family dinner sizes to consume later. You’ll thank yourself when you have a busy schedule and no time to make a meal. Just be sure to label your container so you don’t have a frozen mystery to solve.
Marmalade Martini
A fancy way to use up that last spoonful of marmalade in the jar. Pour 50ml gin into a nearly empty jar of marmalade. Put the lid back on and shake the jar well to combine. Add 2 tbsp orange liqueur (I used Cointreau), then juice 1/2 lemon and the juice 1 clementine. Shake well, strain into 2 chilled Martini glasses and serve.
Charcuterie is definitely all the rage right now. Most people associate the term with a platter of cold, cured meats, and different savory foods such as nuts, dried fruit, cheese, and olives. Make a simple white sauce and stir in your cheeseboard leftovers – try a mix of grated hard cheese, the last crumbles of the blue cheese, or any others you might have. Season, then add ground nutmeg and a touch of Dijon mustard for a rich, delicious sauce for cooked pasta or cauliflower.
INGREDIENTS
4 T butter, divided
1/3 c. all-purpose flour
3 c. whole milk, warm but not hot, divided
2 to 3 whole cloves
1/4 medium onion, peeled
1 bay leaf
2 oz. grated Gruyère cheese or (cheeseboard leftover)
2 oz. grated Parmesan cheese or (cheeseboard leftover)
DIRECTIONS
Gather your ingredients. In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, melt 3 tablespoons of the butter over medium-low heat. Stir in the flour to form a roux. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring frequently, which also allows the raw flour taste to cook away. Slowly add 2 1/2 cups of the warm milk while whisking or stirring constantly so that the liquid is incorporated into the roux without forming lumps. Stick the cloves into the onion and add to the sauce along with the bay leaf. Simmer for about 10 minutes (sauce will thicken) stirring often. Remove the bay leaf and the onion. Make sure you retrieve all of the cloves. Add the cheeses and stir until it has melted.
Remove from heat, stir in the remaining 1 tablespoon butter, and adjust the consistency with some or all of the remaining 1/2 cup milk if necessary. Serve right away with pasta, chicken, or fish. Enjoy!
Gather all the leftover dried fruit and nuts, cut into small pieces. slice any olives as well, but keep those separate until the end. You can serve this side dish hot or room temperature.
INGREDIENTS
1 3/4 c. low sodium chicken or vegetable broth (or water)
1/2 tsp. salt
1 T butter
1 tsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/2 c. (10 oz) couscous
DIRECTIONS
In a medium saucepan, bring the water (or broth), salt, butter, and oil to a boil. Add fruit and nuts if desired. Cover and gently simmer for 5 minutes. Stir in the couscous, cover tightly with a lid, and remove from heat. Let the couscous steam for 5 minutes. Use a fork to fluff the couscous and break up any clumps. Add sliced olives if using. Serve warm.
In a large skillet, cook beef and garlic over medium until beef is no longer pink, breaking beef into crumbles. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix brown sugar, soy sauce, oil and seasonings.
Stir sauce into beef; heat through. Serve with rice. Sprinkle with green onions.
Veggie or meat burgers are great recipes for batch cooking, but sometimes you don’t want to have them the same old way in buns again. Instead, try serving leftover burgers like this- its a simple version of Korean Bulgogi. It’s really just beef cooked with soy and ginger. Serve it with the leftover rice in the refrigerator.
INGREDIENTS
1 lb. ground beef (or crumbled burgers)
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 c. packed brown sugar
1/4 c. reduced-sodium soy sauce
2 tsp. sesame oil
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp. pepper
2 2/3 c. hot cooked brown rice
3 green onions, thinly sliced
DIRECTIONS
The best way to make leftovers more enjoyable is by cooking meals you enjoy in the first place. This comes with practice! Even as a seasoned chef, I still make foods I don’t really like once in a while. When we don’t grow as cooks, we can fall into a pattern of food boredom. For instance adding smashed lemongrass and cardamom pods to a classic rice pudding to give it an aromatic flavor.
So I encourage you to slowly, expand your cooking skills. It is important to note that there are no real rules here, explore new flavors.
Keep it simple but dare to be different.
