5 Creative Dinners Based On Holiday Leftovers
After several months of big meals, many folks run out of ideas for eating the many dishes of leftovers piling up in the refrigerator. I am guilty of forcing my family to eat endless repeats of the same old plates filled with the same old food. Chances are you’ll be throwing out food if you try to present that same plate a third time.
Being creative when serving leftovers is tricky. You have to think about the ingredients that went into the dish in the first place, and think about what other dishes incorporate those same food items.
1) Old Fashioned Potato Soup
When you have leftover mashed potatoes, you have the makings for a wonderfully creamy potato soup. Start with a big soup pot. Throw in 3 or 4 slices of bacon, diced, and cook until the pieces are crispy, then remove from pot. In the same pot, cook up some diced celery and carrots. Then add some diced onion and cook until soft. Then put in about 1 Tablespoon of oil, 1 Tablespoon of flour, and 1 1/2 cups of milk, and thicken. Stir in your potatoes and bacon and simmer very slowly. This is a very satisfying creamy potato soup.
2) Turkey And Gravy Barbeque Style
Cut up or fork-shred some turkey, both white meat and dark will do. In a large skillet, brown a little diced up bacon. Add some diced onion and minced garlic if you like. Put the cut up turkey in the skillet and top with enough leftover gravy to cover the turkey pieces. Now add just enough of a good barbeque sauce or grill flavoring or dry rub to flavor your gravy and turkey mix to give it that Sloppy Joe flavor. Scoop on top of a hamburger bun or crusty bread.
3) Curry Turkey Cauliflower Soup
In your food processor, pulse leftover cooked cauliflower until nice and smooth, adding a bit of milk as you go. Add about two teaspoons of curry, more or less to taste. In a soup pot, saute some diced carrots and onion in a bit of oil. Then pour the smooth cauliflower in soup pot. Cut up leftover turkey and add to pot. Let soup simmer until nice and cooked through and hot.
4) Creamy Tomato and Green Bean Soup
Green bean casserole already makes a great start to a creamy and cheesy soup. Tomatoes help brighten this cheesy soup just a touch. Begin by cooking some big pieces of celery in a soup pot, adding coarse diced onions and some minced garlic, cooking until just fragrant. Add a can of diced tomatoes, either fire roasted or regular. Add a little grill seasoning for extra flavor. Now put your leftover green bean casserole in the pot, stirring until it looks like soup. You might add a bit of turkey or chicken broth if you want the soup thinner. Cook slowly together until the soup is all hot and bubbly.
5) Stuffing with Egg Muffin Cups
Spray a muffin tin with non-stick spray or brush with butter or oil. Spoon enough stuffing in each muffin cup to form a little cup with room for one egg. Break one egg into each cup and top with enough shredded cheese to cover egg. Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for about 15 to 20 minutes or until the egg is done and cheese is melted. Let stand a few minutes before removing egg and stuffing from muffin tin.
Using up leftovers is always a challenge. No one wants to look at the same dishes being served time and time again. If you give some thought to the ingredients that went in to creating the dish in the first place, you’ll no doubt be able to add complimentary food items to build a whole new dish out of the old one.
