Lunches made with Leftovers

This week I'm going to revisit M2M posts from winter 2009, in particular recipes that make the most of abundant, winter-time produce.

Today I'm returning to Leftovers Made into Delicious Lunches:

The trick to using leftovers is to jazz them up -- that way you have a completely new meal.

In other words, don't serve for lunch or dinner exactly what you ate the night before; your poor taste buds will be terribly bored.

Here are several examples of lunches using leftovers from meal ideas posted February 2009:

1) My Spicy Butternut Pumpkin Soup (pic above) will jazz up well with the addition of say, half a cup of cooked millet, quinoa or rice. The grain will create a stew like consistency. Serve with a blob of yogurt on top, and sprinkle with toasted almonds and or sunflower seeds.

2) Leftover Garbanzo Bean Casserole will roll up inside corn tortillas. Just mix in some feta or mozzarella, heat in the microwave or oven, and serve with avocado pieces on top and some crackers or chips on the side.

3) I suggested you make turkey stock with turkey wings. Fresh or fresh-frozen stock is great to have on hand to use as the basis for nourishing soups.

You'll note celery and beetroot listed on the Feb 5th 2009 grocery list, so a Beet, Celery & Apple Soup using your turkey stock would be a great lunch.

Simply chop some celery, a beet, apple, and an onion (a chunk of raw ginger root if you have it). Put ingredients in a pot with enough stock to cover.

Simmer till veggies are cooked (about 45 mins). Season, and then whiz soup in the food processor or serve it chunky as in the pic above.

On the side serve a couple of corn tortillas or a chunk of crusty bread with a soft cheese like feta or mozzarella.

Making meals with leftovers is both budget-wise and less of a hassle than starting from scratch since you already have something to work with.

The key is to be unabashedly creative, adding other ingredients from the fridge and cupboard to make a whole new dish so that you don't feel like you're eating the same meal you ate a day or two beforehand.