No Leftover Left Behind

Posted on September 14, 2012 by April

There’s no way around it: There’s nothing sexy about leftovers. But as any frugal food lover knows, they’re an excellent way to stretch your lunch dollar.

I almost always cook more food than I need for a given meal, just to squeeze an office lunch or two out of it. On lazy weekends, I often cook two big meals at once: one for dinner that night, the other for lunch and/or dinner later in the week. And I always feel a wee bit disappointed when I leave a restaurant without a doggie bag. Though my servers may disagree, even a few bites of something delicious are well worth taking home.

Given my penchant for salvaging foods, creating a leftovers-related post for our “Lunch Box” series seemed simple enough. Still, I floundered a bit when it came time to actually come up with something. While repacking the last portions of a meal may be savvy, it’s not particularly groundbreaking. But transforming scraps into something new? That’s a serious challenge for a home cook!

After much mulling, I remembered a friend’s delicious lentil soup recipe, shared a few years ago as we tried to recover from a gluttonous trip to Istanbul (there were no leftovers on that trip — we absolutely stuffed ourselves at each meal). The soup is wonderful as-is, and freezes brilliantly for a simple leftover meal in its own right. But it also lends itself to some entirely new, office-friendly, iterations.

I’m always on the lookout for good snacks to help get me through the work day. If I don’t have something relatively healthy on hand when I want to munch on something salty, it can be hard to resist the lure of the vending machine. Granted, the sweet potato corn chips on offer aren’t a bad choice, but they’re also right next to those oh-so-delicious (and not exactly health-conscious) Doritos. But when I plan ahead and pack myself an easy work snack, that pesky machine down the hall doesn’t even cross my mind.

So this week, I offer you four recipes. The first, a wonderful red lentil soup. With a recipe that yields approximately 7 cups, you’ll have plenty left to try the recipes included below: two different hummus options and dal parathas (Indian lentil flatbreads). The parathas are perfect for eating with the soup or hummus, but are also great served with plain yogurt. Or, if you’re really lucky, eaten with that to-go box of chicken tikka masala you brought home last night.

Finally, before the recipes, a few tips for making the most of your leftovers:

Take advantage of your freezer. When colleagues see me eating leftovers for lunch, they sometimes say they get tired of eating the same thing for days on end. But if you start freezing your leftovers at home in serving-sized containers, you’ll be able to mix it up from day-to-day in no time.
Restaurant leftovers are great for re-purposing. Even a small piece of a well-prepared meat can make for delicious fried rice (made even easier if you happen to have some leftover rice, as well). I once ordered a slightly-seared beef dish at an Ethiopian restaurant that was far too rare for my taste. I didn’t eat it, but I took it home, where I cooked it (fully!) into a delicious curry.
And speaking of fried rice, it’s a classic way to make even the smallest leftover tidbits go a long way. You can throw in just about anything — cooked veggies or meats, those last bits of fresh herbs and scallions — as long as it’s chopped up small. Toss in some soy sauce and any other Asian seasoning you like, and you’re well on your way to another meal.

Rubina’s Lentil Soup

1 1/2 cup red lentils, washed and soaked for 30 minutes
1 cup diced onions
2 tablespoons butter
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tablespoon ground cumin (or more to taste)
1 tablespoon paprika
Salt & pepper to taste
5 cups vegetable or chicken broth
1 cup diced sweet potato
1 cup finely chopped carrots
Yogurt, for serving
2 tablespoons chopped parsley or cilantro, for serving

Saute onions in butter. Add garlic and saute a little more, but be careful not to burn the garlic. Add cumin, paprika, salt and pepper.

Add stock, lentils and veggies. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to simmer. Cover with a lid just slightly off and cook for about 35 minutes, until the lentils are tender.

Adjust seasonings and top with your herbs and yogurt. Makes about 7 cups of soup.

Leftover Red Lentil Hummus

1 cup leftover lentil soup, drained with a sieve (reserve liquid*)
1 clove of garlic, chopped, or to taste
1 tablespoon almond butter (leftover from figgy AB&Js!) or tahini
Juice from half a lemon (about 2 tablespoons), or to taste
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and pepper, to taste

Blend all ingredients in a blender or food processor until smooth, adjusting drained lentils and liquids for thickness and taste. That’s it! This makes just over 1 cup, but if you’re willing to sacrifice more of your soup, it doubles easily (just go easy on the garlic.)

*Pour the strained liquid back into your soup pot or use to adjust the thickness of the hummus — it’s too flavorful to throw out!

Leftover Red Lentil Chipotle Hummus

1 cup leftover lentil soup, drained with a sieve (reserve liquid*)
1 clove of garlic, chopped (or to taste)
1 tablespoon almond butter (leftover from figgy AB&Js!) or tahini
1 teaspoon ground cumin, or to taste
Juice from half a lemon or lime (about 2 tablespoons, or to taste)
2 tablespoons olive oil
Chipotle pepper, chopped, and adobo sauce, to taste (I used about 2 teaspoons, but preferences vary wildly)
Salt and pepper, to taste

Blend all ingredients in a blender or food processor until smooth, adjusting drained lentils and liquids for thickness and taste. The recipe makes just more than 1 cup, but doubles easily (just go easy on the garlic).

*Pour the strained liquid back into your soup pot or use to adjust the thickness of the hummus — it’s too flavorful to throw out!

Leftover Dal Parathas
Adapted from Shumaila at Bon Appetit (not the magazine).

1 cup lentil soup, drained (reserve liquid*)
1 cup whole wheat flour plus 2 tablespoons whole wheat pastry flour (or regular whole wheat flour, if you don’t have the pastry variety)
½ teaspoon cumin seeds
2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped
¼ cup finely chopped onion
1 teaspoon thyme leaves or ajwain seeds (optional)
1 to 2 teaspoons finely chopped ginger
1 to 2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh pepper of your choice
2 tablespoons butter or ghee, melted

Mix all the ingredients but butter or ghee into a smooth dough. This is easiest with your hands. Add more flour or drained lentils (or their liquid) to get a consistency that holds together and can be rolled out. Refrigerate for about 15 minutes or so to firm it up.

Roll the dough into a ball just a bit larger than a golf ball. Flatten slightly with your hands, and then roll it out to about one-quarter inch thick on a floured countertop, spinning it one quarter-turn with each roll to keep it even.

Brush the paratha with melted butter or ghee, fold it back in on itself, reshape into a ball and then roll out again (don’t forget to keep flouring your work surface).

Cook in a medium-hot skillet until its nicely browned on one side. Brush the top with melted butter, then flip. Cook until the other side looks nicely done.

Repeat! You should have enough to make about four parathas. These are quite firm flatbreads — don’t expect to roll them like tortillas. You can tear the parathas or cut into wedges for dipping in your hummus, yogurt, soup or whatever else strikes your fancy.

*Pour the strained liquid back into your soup pot or use to adjust the paratha dough

Tagged with: Almond Butter, Chipotle, Dal, Dip, Flatbread, Hummus, Leftovers, Lentils, Parathas, Spread
Posted in Dear Diary, Featured

It’s Summertime And The Desserts Are Easy

Posted on August 31, 2012 by Sarah

Summer begs for lazy days. Between the heat and humidity, even desserts should be easy to put together. It’s a necessity brought on not only by the weather, but also the fleeting nature of summer. Need I remind you that tomorrow will be September? And while summer is not officially over, I find myself asking (like many of you, I wager), “Where did it go?!”

But then, I look back. One weekend I went to the beach, another, a ball game in Pittsburgh. And how many concerts, parties, theme parks and last minute dinners with friends and family? Oh, right — that’s where it went!

Looking even further back, to my childhood, gives me even more perspective on just why meals should be quick and simple through the summer months.

We didn’t have air conditioning at my mother’s house in northwestern Pennsylvania, you see. Our saving grace through most of the season was our proximity to Lake Erie, about a mile away. That meant the days were unbearable only during the very peak of summer.

On those particularly sweltering days, we would find other ways to cool off — going to the beach at Presque Isle, dipping into a friend’s pool, creek walking, swinging on the porch swing. Cooking or baking in the kitchen was the last thing anyone felt like doing.

Even so, my mother does some of her best cooking this time of year (though it’s a close tie with her holiday meals and her tremendous library of baked goods). Grilled chicken, smothered in sauce and charred up over coals. Her potato or macaroni salad, whipped up effortlessly along with deviled eggs. And, because every meal of my mother’s must have a dessert, more often than not, she would make strawberry shortcake.

Starting in June, the roadside farmer’s markets near Erie are filled with the most amazing local strawberries. Tiny and bright red, they are truly what my dreams are made of. Packed with flavor, bursting with juice, they are the perfect ending to a hot summer meal.

We would hull the little tops off, cut them in half, and stir in a spoon of sugar. The sugar would draw even more juices from the berries, if that was possible. The pound cake was almost an afterthought — more of a sponge to soak up all that juice. Sometimes Mom would make it from scratch or from a boxed mix, but given the heat, she would often simply purchase a pre-made cake at the store. Throw on the strawberries and a dollop of whipped or iced cream, and we had the most perfect dessert ever invented.

Paying homage to these summertime memories, I thought to combine the grill and this summer favorite. Turns out that grilling pound cake is nothing new, but how to go about grilling those strawberries?

Turns out that putting the berries in an aluminum foil pouch creates a warm, bubbly fruit compote. There’s plenty of juice for the cake to soak up and to drizzle on ice cream. I gave it a try, and, just as I remember, the berries were my favorite of the cake-berry combo. So simple, and you can make them in the oven or on the stovetop. You could even put the pouch in a camp fire (but with care, please!)! I also envision many more uses for the warm compote — over biscuits, pancakes, french toast, waffles …

For the pound cake, I took the path my mother most often used — from the grocery store’s bakery, since I tried this out on another jam-packed summer weekend. Not only were there friends and family to see — a girls night in, brunch, my father’s 58th birthday party — but the events were spread across the region from Maryland to the Shenandoah Valley. On top of that, Sunday was my league’s end-of -season softball tournament. Yowza. It all definitely called for an easy dessert –– the perfect ending to one of the last weekends of summer.

Grilled Berry Pouches and Pound Cake

Adapted from Food & Wine. The recipe calls the pouches hobo packs. I absolutely love this. Maybe during a future hobo-themed month I will regale you with the tale.

1/2 pound strawberries, halved
1/2 pound blackberries
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 teaspoon cornstarch
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
4 1/2 inch-thick slices of pound cake, the denser the cake the better
whipped cream or vanilla ice cream

Prep the fruit: While the grill is warming up, combine the berries, lemon juice, sugar and cornstarch in a medium bowl.

Prep the foil pouches: Put 1/4 tablespoon of the butter on the foil and add the fruit mixture. Form the pouches by bringing up two sides and folding together, then the opposite two sides. It doesn’t have to look pretty as long as the pouches are sealed.

Grill the pouches over moderate heat for about 10 minutes. The fruit will be bubbly.

Spread the remaining butter on the pound cake slices and grill on both sides until they’re toasted (about 1 minute). I noted that a denser pound cake would work better here. Mine was lighter, which caused it to break apart when flipping.

To serve, spoon the berries and juice over the pound cake. Add ice cream, if you desire. The juice was amazing with vanilla ice cream.

Tagged with: Dessert, Erie, fruit, Grill, Mom, Strawberry, Summer
Posted in Dear Diary, Featured

Life’s A Beach, So What’s A Grill To Do? Fruit.

Posted on August 24, 2012 by Amy

Growing up in Michigan, surrounded by lakes, I spent a lot of time in or around the water. In the 1950’s, my great grandfather built a log cabin overlooking Suttons Bay, a sleepy little village a stone’s throw from Traverse City.

“Stone’s throw” is particularly appropriate here. From the time I could throw rocks from the shore into the water, I remember my grandparents bribing my brother and I to do just the opposite. For a penny a stone, we stood knee-keep in that icy water, tossing rock after rock back on to the beach.

It would be impossible to convey how many rocks are in Suttons Bay. All I can say is, until I was about 12 (and old enough to realize that no matter how many rocks I threw, there were thousands more), I earned about $2 a visit. With maybe 8,000 stone throws in my lifetime, it was enough to keep me in good supply of Magic Sand or Yes & Know invisible ink books.

What I also remember about visiting that house, first lived in by my mother’s grandparents and then mine, is food. I’ll never forget Grandma’s strawberry rhubarb pie, straight from the oven. Fresh fish, right off the grill. Two things I wouldn’t touch as a kid, but can’t help craving now. My brother and I spent our nights sleeping out on the enclosed porch, windows cranked open in the absence of air conditioning, the sound of waves lapping against the rock beach to lull us to sleep. In the morning, we’d wake to the smell of eggs and sausage patties cooking in a cast iron skillet in the kitchen, and this time, the waves calling us out to play. And the trademark of the area, cherries — oh, the cherries — picked fresh off the tree from a neighbor’s farm right up the street.

Growing up, I also spent time with friends whose families had lake homes. The food was just as important in their houses, too. Dana and I, for example, have been friends since eighth grade. Her family’s lake house was on the other side of the state, in Au Gres. If you’ve ever seen anyone from Michigan map out where they’re from on the palm of their hand, you’d fine Au Gres close to the bottom of your index finger.

That’s where I learned about grilling fruit.

Dana’s uncle, Rob, would always make this amazing grilled pineapple — just a plain old pineapple sliced up and thrown on the grill. As if that’s wasn’t enough, he made this incredibly simple, incredibly delicious sauce to go on top. Before the annual Fourth of July fireworks (which just happens to coincide with Dana’s birthday festivities), we’d trek out to the lake and celebrate with a feast of delicious grilled meat and a heaping side of this fabulous fruit.

I recently asked Rob where he got the recipe. He says it’s from an old paperback cookbook he can’t remember the name of. With all due respect, I consider this his recipe, so my apologies to the original inventor of said sauce (but please let me know who you are, so I can give you proper credit). Until then, check out Rob’s version below.

Since your founding foodies wanted to see how different fruits stood up to the flame, while also trying something to please every palate, we skewered up a few different options. I definitely recommend peaches, plums and bananas. You might try putting strawberries on their own skewers — ours got a little mushy waiting for the bananas to be done. And while I have seen bananas grilled alone in their peels with great results, even with toppings, the skewers make for a lovely presentation.

But I have to admit … plain old pineapples are still my fave.

Those years growing up on the shore instilled something very deeply in my core: the incredible urge to eat every time I’m beachside! Our family sold that amazing piece of waterfront when I was in my early twenties, too young to save this bit of familial history by buying it myself. These days, I rent a beach house for the summer on the Delaware shore. For the friends that have become like family to me, food remains a focal point of our gatherings. Whether it’s our traditional jaunt to The Lighthouse’s Taco Toss for nachos on a Friday night, or waking up to my friend Adrien’s perfectly cooked bacon on a Saturday morning, it seems the thing that brings the people in my life together has always been somewhere between the waves … and a good meal.

Rob’s Magic Grilled Fruit Sauce

1 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix ingredients and let stand for a half hour. Mix again prior to serving. Don’t tell Rob, but I added a little powdered ginger to give mine a secret kick.

Tagged with: Amy, Banana, Dessert, fruit, Michigan, Peach, Pineapple, Plum, Sauce, Strawberry, We The Eaters
Posted in Dear Diary, Featured