I am a leftover fanatic. Really, I can't understand how any home cook can live without leftovers. Just their existence makes my life easier. I think people get this impression that I am always slaving away in the kitchen, whipping up extravagant meals every night. Really, that can't be further from the truth. The remains of meals past are what get me through the week.
Here's the key: don't serve the same meal twice. Find a way to reinterpret those remaining morsels into something completely new. I have only cooked twice in the past week, but we keep eating leftovers remixed into new cuisine.
One of my all-time favorite tricks is roasting stuff. You crank the oven up to 425ºF, throw some veggies and chunks of meat on a pan, add olive oil and cook it. That's what I did earlier in the week. We were having tacos made from leftover beef stew (see! leftovers again!) and I roasted some new potatoes, zucchini, and onion as the side dish.
Then, yesterday, in a frenzy of hunger caused by forgetting to eat breakfast I realized I better whip something up for myself, and fast. I pulled out those cold potatoes from a few days earlier and added some balsamic vinegar, olive oil, and a chopped spring onion. ¡Viola! Potato salad with radishes on the side. The combination of the balsamic and flavor from roasting gave it such a velvety texture.
Maybe tomorrow I'll share my two-in-one pasta dish. Here's to lazy cooking!
xo,
Rachel
