Transform your leftovers using spices
They say that fresh is best, but often, leftovers taste better the next day. Many, for example, think Thanksgiving Day turkey is great, but leftovers such as turkey sandwiches, perhaps with a little mayo and cranberry sauce, could sustain many for a week.
One way to really make those leftovers “zing” is by adding spices to them. Here are a few examples:
Tadka
In India, they have a technique called “tadka,” which involves tempering spices by briefly heating spices in either oil or clarified butter in order to release the aroma of the spice.
Indian women who want to revive leftovers swear by taking a few cumin seeds, heating them along with a little onion in either clarified butter (ghee) or oil. Once the tadka is prepared, it is then mixed with yesterday’s dish, and you have a whole new and inviting meal.
Malaysian Fried Noodles
Have you ever cooked too much pasta and don’t have any spaghetti sauce to freshen it up for a meal. Most likely, since pasta is relatively cheap it went into the garbage, or maybe into your compost in the garden. But consider this recipe for Malaysian style fried noodles.
You add dried cloves, onions, ketchup, fish sauce, and sugar, (I personally like to add some white pepper as well,) add some pork or prawns, together with yesterday’s pasta along with some tomato and other vegetables, then heat it in a hot skillet with oil for a couple of minutes.
Spice-up leftover pizza
One thing that generally doesn’t taste better is yesterday’s leftover pizza. However, that’s because you don’t get creative with it. A popular Chicago pizza chain has these ideas: add mozzarella cheese, onion, pepper flakes, minced garlic, oregano, and melted butter together with some egg, and milk. Pour it over the leftover pizza and bake for 45 minutes.
Revive rice
Whether you ordered Chinese, Thai, or Indian, chances are you got too much rice and have two choices, throw it away or revive it. Throwing it away is so wasteful, so consider reviving it by frying it, then add onions, scallions, garlic, or ginger; chopped fresh or frozen and if you prefer some additional spices like cumin. Mix in a little hamburger meat and you’ve got something 10 times better than Hamburger Helper.
