Thanksgiving Leftovers

snackalot — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 18:45:06 GMT

Just like many of you, my refrigerator is overflowing with leftovers from Thanksgiving. I have just the right amount of my mother-in-law's delicious sweet potatoes, my brother-in law's garlicky feta mashed potatoes, a hearty portion of the turkey we enjoyed and a perfect-sized scoop of stuffing. However, I am drowning in the butternut squash dip I made as an appetizer. By the time I arrived at my parent's house with the dip, the gang had already stuffed themselves with my sister's fantastic combo of goat cheese and fig and ginger jam. I added my squash dip to the spread, only to see a handful of people sample it.

At first, I worried it didn't taste good. Although his sense of duty might have been greater than his sincerity, my father assured me it was very good. Anywho, I went home with a casserole dish brimming with the dip and no idea what to do with it-until the "leftovers" light bulb snapped on last night. I realized I had a pie crust, Parmesan cheese, and enough green beans to match the squash dip bite for bite. I took a chance and did the following with this bevy of remains from the Thanksgiving feast:

Blind baked the crust for about 10 minutes. Then dumped all of the butternut squash dip into the crust. I steamed the green beans and then sautéed them briefly in a bit of butter. This is where it gets weird(er). I topped the squash dip pie with the green beans, attempting to do so in a way that was eye appealing. Then I sprinkled the pie with some freshly grated Parmesan cheese and popped it in the oven at 350 for 30 minutes. The verdict...

I really liked it! The squash dip was made with roasted squash, garlic and onion and then seasoned with nutmeg, ground red pepper, brown sugar, and salt and pepper. Its savory flavor worked well with the pie crust and the green beans...well, the beans were a tad odd but they added a slight crunch and a fresh flavor that I enjoyed. Needless to say, Joey took one look at it and thought it was going to be awful. After convincing him he'd like it, he hesitantly tried a small bite. By the fourth bite, he agreed that it was a successful, yet strange, concoction.

One a different, but leftovers-related note, I ate turkey and stuffing for breakfast today. Bad choice, as I am now ready for a nap.

Taco Magic

snackalot — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 16:00:34 GMT

What do you do with tons of leftover taco ingredients? Dump them all in a pan and bake it! After our big football fiesta last weekend, my refrigerator was bursting with taco meat, salsa, tortillas and Spanish rice. I decided to make pseudo-taco lasagna that was really more like a taco casserole. My favorite part was that I made a meal without a recipe and it actually tasted good. For a few days, taco casserole was our lunch and dinner. When we couldn’t stand another taco-flavored bite, I shared the rest of it with the garbage can.

Here’s how it came together:

Spray an 8X10 glass baking dish with cooking spray
Add the following in this order:
A layer of tortillas
A dribbling of salsa
A layer of Spanish rice
A thin layer of salsa
A layer of leftover taco meat
Another layer of Spanish rice
Another layer of salsa
Another layer of leftover taco meat
Another layer of tortillas to cover the top
Sprinkle with grated cheese
Pop it into the oven at 375 degrees for 25 minutes, until warmed through and cheese is melty. Serve with salsa and sour cream.

This didn’t use up all the salsa, so I froze it. Is that bad? I’m not quite sure how tomatoes, corn, onion, etc… do when frozen.

snackalot : leftovers

Thanksgiving Leftovers

Taco Magic