I cook too much food. I mean, I can’t cook less. I mean, there’s enough for at least 1-2 persons after we have finished our meal. So that means that any point of time I have leftovers in my refrigerator. Since I have 2 foodies at home, serving the same dish again in the next meal is just out of question. And I just can’t let the leftovers go to waste. So, zinging up the food using leftovers and presenting it in a new avatar is what I frequently do.
Until and unless you are an adept planner, leftovers are something that we all have to deal with. But leftovers don’t get too much respect. The mere mention of leftovers brings frowns and scowls from the family. Can’t blame them, because some reheated food taste like some sort of bland, soggy mush and it certainly doesn’t look good. You can stop feeling guilty about leftovers and just get smarter and creative in using them.
Here’s how…
Fritters or Tikki
Leftover rice or khichdi or noodles or dry vegetables can be turned into crispy n crunchy tea time snacks. Add besan or rice flour to the leftover rice or khichdi or noodles along with chopped onions, green chillies and spices. Divide the mixture into small balls and deep or shallow fry them in hot oil and serve hot with green chutney or tomato sauce.
Baked Dishes
Layer leftover rice or pasta with veggies followed by white or tomato sauce and some breadcrumbs and cheese. Bake to perfection for a whole new look to last night’s meal.
Nachos or Tacos
Crisp up left over rotis on a pan and add beans or boiled corn, sour cream, salsa and cheese for an Indian twist to a Mexican favourite!
Poha
Cut leftover idlis or chapati into small chunks and toss them with fresh vegetables and spices for a quick and filling snack.
Pancakes
Leftover dal or rice? Add these to some healthy flours like rice , bajra, besan along with vegetables and spices and make a batter and spread it like a dosa on a girdle and cook it on both the sides. A healthy and tasty meal is ready in a jiffy!
Rolls and Wraps or Sandwiches
One of the easiest way to use leftover dry vegetable is jazz it up in the form a roll or wrap or sandwich. Just wrap gobhi aloo, green beans, paneer, aloo matar or baingan bharta in a roti to make a fuss- free roll or sandwich.
Omelettes and Frittatas
A great way to use up leftover veggies and meats is to convert it into a frittata. Whisk them up with eggs and pour into a pan. Add your choice of herbs and spices and of course cheese!!
Paratha
Leftover vegetables or dal or rice can be kneaded into a dough along with spices to make parathas. Serve with pickle or curd. Filling and nourishing breakfast or lunch.
I believe that leftovers are good in many ways.
- You can avoid wastage of food by making delicious recipes in less time.
- With less planning and effort you can add variety on your dining table.
Just take care of these simple food safety guidelines…
- Refrigerate food below 5 °C as soon as possible.
- Reheat refrigerated food for at least 2 minutes to steaming hot (above 75 °C) before eating.
Do you zing up your leftover food? What are your favorite tricks / recipes for using up leftovers?
29 Responses
Wow… So many new recipes from left overs.
Yes, I do too… Nothing goes waste in my kitchen.
Congratulations on aceing up another challenge
Wonderful ideas Shilpa! I discovered your series late but I’ve enjoyed reading the sheer variety of food-related posts. Hats off to your creativity and congratulations on completing the challenge!
I try to cagole to finish the fresh food by equally distributing among 3 members as much as possible. Usually idli/dosa batter remains . I add some healthy atta like jowar or besan and prepare appams. Spruce it up with onions , tomatoes etc. A new dish is ready which is filling and healthy.
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Yes I do not waste food; mostly i share it with my brother and sister in laws family who stay close by. If its a holiday, then I prefer not to cook the next day, I use the same food for the next day. Thanks for sharing:)
We love soups! Freezing the extra veggies is a necessity to save on our grocery bills. If I don’t have it soupy enough, It’s a topper for rice or mashed potatoes.
Congratulations on the big finish! I have so many to catch up on. Thanks for dropping in on my blog this AtoZ as well 🙂
I like leftovers because I like the original dish that I made 🙂
I don’t mind eating the same thing a few times. Or I do what you suggest and add different veggies or spices.
It was fun reading all your food ideas for the challenge!
Congratulations on successfully completing another year of A to Z Challenge.
Hey! Really great leftover ideas!!
Will be putting them in action soon.
I just have to make sure the hubby doesn’t come across this post of yours!!
Great tips Shilpa, many that had never occurred to me.! I always cook too much and my freezer is bulging with uneaten food. I really must put cooking on hold for a while and start working my way through my leftovers!
Oh thank you for these ideas! I love leftovers because it means what cooking I need to do is minimal. Now even more so after reading your ideas for Zinging them up! Your blog was so much fun to follow during the A to Z Blogging Challenge!
I hate wasting food, so I always try to reuse leftovers. And seriously, there are even a good amount of traditional recipes that help you do that 😉
Congrats on finishing the challenge… not that I ever doubted you 😉
Hey ! I thought I was the queen of recylcing food. But you seem to have beaten me to it with pancakes and poha. Now that’s something I will really have to try.
And my ma in law says that a good housewife always makes food enough for two more hungry strangers who may land up at your door.
So don’t beat yourself about it. On Sunday night we generally have leftovers and we call this meal “Shili ( which means stale in Marathi ) Saptami” .
ANd Congratulations for finishing the AtoZ challenge!
Yum! I’m inviting myself over to your place for dinner the next time you’re serving leftovers. 😉
Oh my gosh thank you so much. I was just thinking about different ways to use leftovers. Also if there are enough leftovers we freeze them for another meal in the way future
Yes I zing leftovers often because there’s always leftovers from every meal unless we have dosas in which case it’s easy to stop at the right point. I often think that when we give the leftovers a makeover, it becomes a more delicious feast! All the ideas you listed are great.
These are all great suggestions. I have only tried fried idli with fresh vegetables and also tried rolls as well as sandwiches. I must try tikkis, fritters and paranthas as well. Thanks for sharing these..perfect way to reduce food wastage!
I do most of these except deal-rice pancake, I usually knead the dough with the leftover daal. Using leftover sabji is my most common recipe for tikkis.
What handy ideas, Shilpa. I hate wasting food, and I am going to implement your ideas. You reminded me of my son who would top a pizza base with leftover Palak paneer.
Wow shilpa you have suggested many great options. I did not try roti nacho and Frittatas so far. would love to give them a try. both options sounds amazing. leftover roti poha and paratha with leftover dal I make often at my place.
super ideas Shilpa! indeed, eating leftovers can get a bit boring! especially as mostly i have to finish them when the others at home refuse to have the leftovers!! hehe! I am going to try these out and be smart about the leftovers too.
I’m like you and always cook extra. Leftover food actually tastes good if we know how to zing it up. Baked dishes seem like a good option.
I just loved the post, even though I used to make rolls or even wraps from leftover roti. I remember even trying pakoras or fitters from leftover rice.
I’m always zinging up foodstuff from the fridge as i never like to waste food whatever the situation. I believe in eating leftovers just the way they are also … Just reheat it properly…
Although I hardly get leftovers in my kitchen, using bits has always been my most considerable tension. Thanks for sharing superb creative ideas for using those leftovers the best way. I am surely going to try some.
These are some really wonderful and creative pointers. Love that all the products mentioned are common household items. Will try these recipies soon.
I hate throwing away food and I always make something out of the leftover. Like rice pakodas or deep fry left over rotis to make them like papads. I love to make idli chilly with left over idlis. Taste do yum.
These are some lovely options. Would love to try some. I also use left over sabzi for paratha stuffing and we all lobe them.
Experimenting the food to create a new one is an art and must say you have listed many options for it. Though I make some but did not knew that I can give such fancy names to them.
Hey! Really great leftover ideas!!
Will be putting them in action soon. I wish my child eat them