What to do with weekend leftovers

If you are anything like me, you cook for 50 even when only 4 people are expected for dinner.  I can’t help it.  Two entertaining rules were engrained in me: Food equals love so make a lot, and if there is nothing left over, then there wasn’t enough.  After a holiday dinner or a barbeque, I always seem to have a full refrigerator.  This weekend was a big barbeque weekend and no exception to the rule.  Last night, after a full day of working on my Unlazy Days of Summer to do list, laundry, hitting the gym and the dog park, I was in no mood to cook.  But fear not, I had a full fridge.  My leftovers consisted of a garden salad, grilled chicken, and Sweet Mediterranean Quinoa.  I could do the boring dinner and reheat everything and eat them as I had the night before, or combine them for a flavorful chopped salad.  I went for the latter.  Chopped salads are my favorite way to enjoy leftovers.  Flavors from multiple dishes meld together for a whole new flavor than the one I tasted the day before.  This is how I put together last night’s chopped salad:

I started with a wooden bowl and added garden salad.  This one had lettuce, cucumbers, carrots, tomatoes, and red pepper.

garden salad

Then I added a piece of grilled chicken.

Grilled chicken, yum!

Next, I used my mezzaluna, a crescent-shaped chopping blade, to chop up the chicken and salad.  The Sweet Mediterranean Quinoa didn’t need to be chopped, so that wasn’t added until the chopping was completed.  I love using the mezzaluna; it’s easy to use and easy to wash.  If you don’t have one, you can pulse the concoction in a food processor.  When everything is evenly chopped, move the salad into a salad bowl.  I don’t add my dressing to the wood bowl because it’s porous and it could stain the bowl and absorb the odors of the dressing.

My lovely mezzaluna

Once the salad was in a bowl, I added the remains of the Sweet Mediterranean Quinoa.  I gave a little mix and then added a teaspoon of dressing.  I used Kerry Wood Healthy Foods’ Balsamic Vinaigrette for a little flavor and some fig infused balsamic vinaigrette for extra moisture without the calories from fat.  And here is the final product:

Chopped salad from leftovers!

This is just one way to enjoy leftovers in a chopped salad.  You could also use chicken sausage and corn, chopped veggie burgers and cole slaw (no need for dressing, the cole slaw comes with!), or chopped skirt steak and grilled veggies.  Season with your favorite dressing, or add good fats to your meal by using infused olive oils.  Pair the oils with red wine vinegar, or a different flavor like champagne balsamic or aged balsamic vinegar.  If you don’t have much of your protein (ie chicken, steak) left over, you can still serve more than yourself by adding more salad to the mix and including another source of protein like canned beans or more quinoa (a great source of protein).

Chopped salads are a great way to use up your leftovers any night of the week.  Whatever you have left over from your grill fest or brunch (think chopped hard boiled eggs and and bacon), you can’t go wrong serving it the next night in a delicious salad.  Maybe even invite some friends over.  Go ahead, I’m sure you have enough for everyone.

xo

B