FriendBurst Blog

6 Ways to Revamp Your Leftovers

6 Ways to Revamp Your Leftovers

Smart ways to give your old food new life

by Becky Striepe, at Care2

Wed Nov 3, 2010 11:46

Wasted
food is wasted energy, so rather than scraping your plate into the
garbage or leaving leftover food at the restaurant where it will end up
in the trash, try turning that leftover food into a whole new meal for
later on in the week!

Not only does cooking with leftovers
reduce waste, it can help stretch your food budget, too! If you’re
looking to spice up your leftovers, here are some easy, tasty ways to
make yesterday’s meal into a whole new dish.

1. Casseroles

The
casserole route works well with all sorts of different types of
leftovers like Italian, Mexican, and bar food. I don’t think I’d try
this with Chinese or Thai food, but if you’re feeling adventurous, go
for it!

Mix up the leftover food with some cooked pasta or rice,
top with cheese (dairy or vegan will do the trick), and bake at 350F
until the top of the casserole is brown.

2. Salads

Toss
last night’s meal with some mixed greens and chopped veggies for a
hearty salad. If your food had a lot of sauce on it, you might not even
need dressing.

You can also heat the leftovers before tossing
them with your greens. A warm topping on crunchy, cold lettuce adds a
bit more interest to the meal.

3. Soup

This
works best with Asian food, but you can definitely experiment! Combine
leftovers, sauce and all, with cooked rice and some broth for a quickie
leftovers soup. Depending on how saucy your dish was, you might want to
spice things up with a little soy sauce, minced ginger, or garlic. If
you’re feeling fancy, garnish with chopped cilantro or scallions!

4. Fried Rice

Whether you had a stir fry or beans and rice, leftover rice makes a tasty base for a quick meal.

In
a large frying pan, combine the cooked rice with your leftover food and
stir to heat evenly. If the rice is looking dry, you might need to add
around 1/4c water or broth to the pan to moisten things up. The rice
will absorb most of the liquid, and the rest will cook down to make a
yummy sauce.

5. Sauce

If you have a
lot of veggies that you couldn’t finish, you can turn them into a
nutritious sauce that’s great on pasta. Just heat the veggies with some
broth and spices of your choice, then puree to create a flavorful sauce.
If you like things creamier, add a cooked potato to the mix. Yum!

6. Wraps

Burritos
and wraps used to mean some combination of beans, rice, and veggies.
While a traditional burrito is great, you can really spice things up by
wrapping up leftovers from another meal along with some veggies. Think
outside the box! Thai or Indian leftovers would be delicious wrapped in a
tortilla with some sliced potato and shredded spinach, for example.