Designer Leftovers - Cooking Tips On How To Make Good Use Of Leftovers. . . .

Having lots of leftover has always been a problem of mine. Can’t just seem to cook less! I came across this great article by Linda Gray on how to make good use of leftovers and thus save money and time.

There a lots of simple healthy quick cooking healthy recipes for common extras like rice, potatoes and chicken. As rice is a staple food in our home, I got to try out many of the recipes given in this article. My favourite cooking healthy recipe is Rice Salad, (so that I don’t end up having to make Fried rice all the time! ) which is easy to make and healthy too!

As for the potato dish, I especially liked the Cottaged Pie. It reminded me of Shepard’s pie.

Hope you find these tips helpful.

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without hitting the fast food button! Don’t you just cringe when some clever kitchen type tells you what you could be doing with the leftovers in the fridge, when it’s plainly obvious the leftovers will stay there until they walk out by themselves!
More often than not, saving money with leftovers, although a great idea, takes a lot of time in preparation and relies on many other ingredients being available. So……….
Design your own leftovers!
Cooking twice as much as you need ‘by design’ allows you the extra time tomorrow with the added bonus of knowing what you’re going to cook.
Dithering around in the kitchen working out who wants what and what you forgot to buy, takes ages. If you know you’ve already got a portion of the evening meal ready in the fridge, life becomes a lot less stressful.
Most ‘in-the-pot’ dishes like bolognaise, chile, casseroles and stews can all be made in double quantities in very little extra time. Make sure you thoroughly reheat meat dishes until very hot. The only real problem with in the pot food healthy eating healthy recipes is that you’re obliged to eat the same meal two nights in a row. Although you can serve it with rice, pasta, or potatoes to add some variety.
If you’ve managed to cook enough rice to feed the neighborhood, don’t throw away the leftovers. Let the rice cool completely, place in a bowl, cover with plastic food wrap, and refrigerate. Then the following evening you have a base for a new and exciting meal…try these ideas:

Egg Fried Rice: Make a plain omelet and remove from pan. Cut into small pieces and set aside.. Put cold leftover rice in the pan and stir gently. Add omelet pieces, stir and heat until hot right through. Serve with Chinese style ribs, or veggie sausages.

Special Fried Rice: Fry in olive or nut oil a finely chopped onion, tomato, green pepper and a few sliced mushrooms. Add leftover rice to pan. Stir gently. Add sweetcorn for colour and a few chopped walnuts if liked. Serve with any meat, fish, egg or veggie dish.

Rice Salad: In a large bowl, mix leftover rice with fresh raw chopped vegetables; onion, tomato, sweet pepper, celery, sweetcorn, and any other favorites hanging around in the fridge. Chill for half an hour before serving. A half mayo-half natural yogurt dressing can be gently stirred in if liked. To create a whole summer meal in a bowl, add chopped boiled egg, cooked flaked fish, pieces of ham or cooked chicken or even nuts and raisins!

Potatoes can easily be turned into ‘designer leftovers’
Cooking a whole tray of jacket potatoes will take no longer than cooking one or two, just a few extra minutes scrubbing time needed. Store leftovers in the fridge.

Flat Fries: Slice and shallow fry leftover jackets in hot olive oil and some mixed dried herbs or cumin spice. Turn occasionally. Serve hot with anything.

Family Omelet: Peel and dice leftover jackets and gently fry in olive oil, with a chopped onion. Pour over beaten eggs and add some grated cheese. Cook gently for a few minutes. Turn and cook the other side. The omelet will probably fall apart during this manoeuvre. Just push it back together. No-one will know! Serve hot with a green salad.

Rough Potato Salad: Peel leftover jackets and chop roughly. Mix in a large bowl with sweetcorn, tuna and a little chopped onion or chives. Serve with a mayonnaise sauce.

Hot mashed potato, served with a delicious gravy, is always a family favorite. Make twice as much and delight the family two days in a row! Cool the leftover mash thoroughly. Place in a bowl, cover with plastic food wrap and refrigerate.

Baked Mash: Put leftover mash into a large bowl and stir in cooked flaked white fish, bacon pieces, or cooked vegetables. Place in a greased ovenproof dish, top with grated cheese and bake in a medium oven until hot right through.

Burger Mash: In a large bowl, mix leftover mash with a little beaten egg, some chopped chives or very finely chopped onion. Then form small balls in your hands. Flatten slightly and, if available, coat with breadcrumbs or chopped nuts. Fry as you would a burger!

Cottage Pie: Cook minced beef, or veggie equivalent, a chopped onion and a tin of tomatoes together and place mixture in a large lightly greased ovenproof dish. Spoon leftover mashed potato over the top, and sprinkle on a little grated cheese, if liked. Heat through thoroughly in a medium to hot oven and serve hot with green vegetables.

Cook a slightly larger chicken and keep the leftovers covered - and maybe hidden - in the fridge. A vegetarian equivalent of chicken will work equally well with these dishes.

Quick Chicken Curry: Pour a home made curry sauce or a jar of ready - made over cut up leftover chicken pieces and heat through thoroughly in a hot oven. Always make sure re-heated meat is steaming hot right through. Serve with rice or jacket potatoes.

Chicken Salad: Mix cold leftover chicken with a finely chopped onion and stir in a half mayo, half natural yogurt dressing. Add a few walnuts for an extra special treat. Chill for 30 minutes and serve with any dish..

Chicken Stir Fry: Put cut up chicken pieces in a frying pan with a little olive or nut oil. Mix in thinly sliced sweet peppers, onion, tomato and any other bits in the fridge that look healthy enough to eat. Cook gently for a few minutes, ensuring the chicken is thoroughly hot. Then mix into a bowl of hot cooked noodles. Serve with an oriental style sauce.

Hot Tip: Planning a few menus in advance will mean you are always in control of nourishing and tasty meals, and no need to lean guiltily on the microwave waiting for the latest TV dinner to cook!
About The Author
Linda Gray is a freelance writer based in a log cabin in a wood. See what else goes on between the trees over at http://www.mylot.org. Drop in anytime!

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Originally Syndicated via RSS from Healthy Yet Yummy Food - For Healthy, Delicious And Quick Meal Recipes

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Chicken And Bacon Casserole. . . .

This is a easy healthy recipe with very few ingredients and little preparation time which makes a more than satisfying evening meal. It is ideal for one of those nights where time may be short.

Ingredients

2 chicken breast fillets

4 rashers of unsmoked bacon

2 large tomatoes (sliced)

2 cloves of garlic (finely chopped)

Handful of fresh coriander, cilantro in US (roughly chopped)

Freshly ground black pepper

Olive oil

Method

Put your oven on to preheat to 200 degrees centigrade or its equivalent. Place some of the tomato slices over the base of a casserole dish, drizzle with olive oil and season with pepper. Place a couple of slices of tomato on top of each chicken breast, cover with coriander and garlic and wrap two slices of bacon carefully around each of them. Place the parcels in the dish and cover them with the remaining tomato slices and coriander. Add some more pepper and olive oil. Put the lid on the dish and cook for 30 minutes. Check that the chicken is cooked all the way through by inserting a metal skewer into the flash and making sure that the juices run clear.

 NB: it is unlikely that additional salt will be required in this dish as the bacon should provide all that is necessary. 

 

 

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Originally Syndicated via RSS from Healthy Recipes

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Sauted Cabbage And Bacon. . . .

This is an extremely simple dish which can be served alone for lunch or in smaller quantities as a main meal accompaniment. It is comprised of only the most natural, freshest produce and is quick to prepare and cook.

I will admit that the concept of marrying cabbage with bacon is hardly a new one but this precise food healthy recipe which I have devised has, I believe, a truly unique, extra special flavour. The quantity described below will provide a satisfying lunch for two people.

Ingredients

1/2 a small white cabbage (chopped)

4 lean rashers of unsmoked bacon

1 large onion (halved then sliced)

4 cloves of garlic (finely chopped)

Handful of fresh coriander, or cilantro in US (roughly chopped)

8 to 10 back and forward gratings of nutmeg kernel

1 tbsp of olive oil

Method

Grill your bacon until it is cooked but not crisped then put it on a plate and set it aside. Add the olive oil to a large saucepan and bring up to a heat, adding the garlic next to sweat off for a minute but not colour. Put in the cabbage and the onion and keep on a medium heat, stirring frequently and thoroughly with a wooden spoon. After about ten minutes, the vegetables should have softened and have a glistening quality. This is when the nutmeg, coriander and roughly chopped bacon should be added to heat through for a few minutes.

Note the absence of salt and pepper in this dish. It is my belief that enough salt comes from the bacon to sufficiently season the dish along with the nutmeg. That, naturally, is something which may be varied according to taste. 

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Originally Syndicated via RSS from Healthy Recipes

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Sirloin Steak With Cracked Peppercorn Sauce. . . .

There are few meals more satisfying than a good steak but to be enjoyed at its tasty and juicy best it should be cooked rare, or at worst, medium rare. I remember once hearing a comedian say somewhere that he liked his steak with the “moo” still in it - I tend to agree. I also make sure that I pick a cut with plenty of “marbling” in it, which equates to flavour and juiciness. I think that a good bottle of red wine is another essential when eating steak, my preferences being Australian Shiraz or Cabernet Sauvignon.

This eating healthy eating healthy recipes refers to what you will require per person.

Ingredients

1 large sirloin steak

2 or 3 chestnut mushrooms (halved downwards throught the stalk)

Sunflower oil for frying

2 large maris piper potatoes (unpeeled and cut in to chunks)

1/2 tsp of dried thyme

1/2 tsp of dried sage

Salt/freshly ground black pepper

3 cloves of garlic (crushed)

1 tbsp of olive oil

2 tbsp of double cream (never single cream - it will split)

1/2 tsp of whole black peppercorns (lightly cracked with a pestle and mortar)

1/2 small broccoli head (split in to florets)

Method

First of all, open your wine and allow it to “breathe.” Put your oven on to preheat to 200 degrees centigrade or equivalent with a large baking sheet or tray inside. Parboil your potatoes for 8 to 10 minutes and drain well. In a large bowl, put the olive oil, thyme, sage and a pinch of salt to taste and carefully stir the potatoes around in the mixture until they are all well coated. Put them on the baking sheet in the oven for 20 minutes. In the same bowl, place two of the crushed garlic cloves and stir the partly cooked potatoes again through the residue before putting them back in to the oven for a further 10 minutes. Put the broccoli in to a pan of salted, boiling water. Bring a frying pan up to a high heat then add the sunflower oil. Season the steak with pepper only and fry at maximum heat for 2 or 3 minutes at most on each side, depending upon the thickness, along with the mushroom halves. Remove the pan from the heat and set it aside for the meat to rest while you make the sauce. Put the cream in a small saucepan and gently heat. Add the peppercorns and the remaining crushed garlic clove, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon. After a few minutes, the sauce should turn a pale tan colour and start to thicken.

You are now ready to drain the broccoli and serve your meal.

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Originally Syndicated via RSS from Healthy Recipes

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Stir Fried Sweet Chilli Prawns On Coriander Rice. . . .

I personally prefer to cook with raw prawns (shrimp in the US) but it is possible to substitute in this recipe those which have been pre-cleaned and cooked. It is imperative, however, if so doing to add them only towards the very end of the cooking process, simply to heat through. Overcooked prawns lose their texture and assume the consistency of rubber, effectively being rendered inedible.

This is a easy healthy recipe designed for two people.

Ingredients

12 large prawns (shelled, de-veined* and washed thoroughly)

1 large onion (quartered and separated)

1 small can of pineapple chunks in pineapple juice (drained and the juice reserved)

1 red chilli pepper (deseeded and finely chopped)

2 cloves of garlic (crushed or finely chopped)

1/2 tsp of peeled, freshly grated ginger root

2 tsp of sugar

2 tsp of cornflour

10 to 12 back and forward gratings of nutmeg kernel

Handful of fresh coriander, cilantro in US (roughly chopped)

4 oz of basmati rice

Salt

1 tbsp of sunflower oil for frying

* In order to clean the prawns, first of all, hold the tail section in one hand (the left, if you are right-handed) and gently twist off and discard the head. The shell can then be carefully peeled away from the tail, which is the part you will be eating. With a small, sharp knife make a shallow incision along the length of the back and remove the black “vein,” which is in fact the intestine. A good wash in cold water and the prawns are ready to be cooked.

Method

It is going to take a maximum of five minutes to cook your stir fry from beginning to end so get your rice on to boil in salted water. You can then begin the frying process approximately five minutes prior to your rice being ready.

Heat up your wok until it is smoking hot then add your oil to heat through. Add the onions, prawns, garlic and ginger. Remember that stir frying is so called because it is imperative to keep the food moving rapidly around the pan at all times. After a couple of minutes, add your pineapple chunks, chilli pepper, nutmeg, sugar and a generous pinch of salt. The prawns should take approximately three minutes to turn completely pink and be cooked through, so just prior to this stage, stir the cornflour quickly and well in to the pineapple juice and pour in to the wok. The sauce will rapidly thicken, lushly coating all the other ingredients. Remove your wok from the heat, stir in one third of your chopped coriander and cover while you drain the rice. Put your rice in to a large mixing bowl with the remaining coriander and stir well.

It only then remains to plate up and enjoy your meal.

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Chickpea And Tomato Salad. . . .

I have always associated chickpeas with Indian - or, at the very least, Far Eastern - cooking, so when I was asked to come up with a recipe for the above I had to plump for one with some such influence. This is an incredibly simple, yet flavoursome dish, including fenugreek, which I am aware is not one of the most widely recognised herbs. If you happen to be one of those fortunate people with access to the fresh variety, substitute the quantity in the recipe for 1 tsp of finely chopped leaves.

Ingredients

2 tbsp of chickpeas

1 large tomato (deseeded and roughly chopped)

1 tsp of coriander, or cilantro in the US (roughly chopped)

1/4 tsp of dried, powdered fenugreek

1 clove of garlic (crushed)

Splash of extra virgin olive oil

Salt/freshly ground black pepper

Method

Simply combine all of your ingredients in a glass mixing bowl, cover and refrigerate for one hour. Your salad is then ready to serve.

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Originally Syndicated via RSS from Healthy Recipes

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