Tag Archives: leftovers

May 16, 2012 · 11:36 am

Lentil Soup a la Loren Lieberman

I apologize for my absence; I’ve been in Texas where I ate all sorts of wonderful food (blog to come) but for today I am going to share a wonderful recipe I was given by the lovely Loren Lieberman, beautiful mother of my dear friend Arielle.

During a happy hour date with Arielle, I expressed my desire to make my own soups, to which she replied that her mother made an excellent lentil soup. I was intrigued. You see, I have recently developed an affinity for lentil soup, which I had been buying in cans from the supermarket. Then a few weeks ago, to my horror, I discovered I had been paying $4.50 per can of soup! Never again!

I was ecstatic to try this soup made with lentils, carrots, celery, onion, zucchini, and a jalapeño.

Add everything to the pot, add parsley, bay leaf, salt, pepper

The recipe calls for any kind of stock, so I used veggie both because that’s what I had in the fridge and to introduce a few more vegetarian meals into my diet. The ratio of liquid to lentils is supposed to be 5:1. If you are in possession of a large pot, this is no problem for you. I only have two small pots, so I ended up adding too many lentils, making this soup a little thicker than intended, but it was still delicious!

I let the liquid come to a boil, then added the lentils while I chopped the other veggies. I then added everything and lowered the heat to a simmer, covered and let sit for one hour.

After an hour, I separated this into two pots, added a little more liquid and it turned out beautifully!

The biggest challenge with this soup was that I needed to freeze a portion of it because I was going out of town and I can’t count on my housemate to eat leftovers. I wasn’t sure how it would freeze, but I am currently enjoying a bowl of the de-frosted soup and it’s just as tasty! I believe I got about 8 portions out of this recipe and the total cost was less than $10. POP POP.

 

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April 5, 2012 · 11:11 am

Ginger-Infused Black Bean Soup

I was eager to make a soup last weekend both because I hadn’t done it before and also because I wanted to have soup around for the week. Since we had all the necessary elements for quesadillas in the house, I decided a spicy black bean soup would be a nice accompaniment.

I began by sautéing 3 jalapeños with garlic and onions.

Then I added one can of black beans and some ginger.

Don’t care much for ginger? Leave it out! We had some leftover from another dish and I didn’t want to waste it so I threw it in. It adds a different flavor and additional spice, but it’s definitely not necessary.

Next I added 3 cups of vegetable broth, but you can use whatever kind you like.

Then I let it simmer covered for an hour and half, then uncovered for one hour.

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can let it simmer covered for the full 2 1/2-3 hours if you prefer a thiner soup. We wanted a thick, hearty black bean soup so we let it reduce down uncovered, but that’s up to you!

Get butter down in a hot skillet, then add cheese and chicken (or veggies).

Let it brown to your preferred level of crunch, then cut into quarters.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This was a completely ‘leftover’ quesadilla. We had leftover buffalo chicken from a dish earlier in the week and leftover cheese from the Enchilada Casserole. It made for a spicy and delicious quesadilla!

Brush the chips with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and into a 400 degree oven for 10 minutes or until crisp.

We didn’t have any tortilla chips left but we did have a few leftover corn tortillas, so we continued with the frugal theme of this supper and made our own! Super easy.

Served here with a tasty IPA and guacamole of course! (Click for recipe)

The soup turned out spicy and gingery. My housemate dubbed it “ginger-infused black bean soup,” which I was able to enjoy all week long! Mission accomplished.

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March 19, 2012 · 2:18 pm

Got leftovers? Time to get creative!

If you’ll remember, at the end of my post about the chicken enchiladas (once again, New York, you’re welcome), I promised I had a plan for the leftover enchilada filling. If you’re anything like me, the thought of having to throw out food doesn’t exactly appeal to you. If you’re a lot like me, the idea makes you downright nauseous. In any event, that meal left me with half a pack of corn tortillas and a ton of leftover filling. Sure, I could have just made enchiladas again, but where’s the fun in that?

Instead I decided to cook the filling down with some tomato paste and black beans, creating a sort of chicken chili if you will, which I then layered between corn tortillas for a sort of Mexican lasagna. My mom called it enchilada casserole, so I am too. Honestly, and not to toot my own horn, but you could call it a casserole of crap and it wouldn’t change the fact that this dish was delicious and essentially free based on the fact that I would have otherwise had to throw out everything I used.

Click here for the original filling recipe, to which I added a can of tomato paste and a can of black beans. Then I let it simmer for two hours.

I then took one of my super expensive and classy foil dishes and put down a layer of corn tortillas, which I softened in the microwave for 30 seconds. I tore them so they’d fit, it certainly doesn’t need to be perfect.

I started slopping in my chili mix, I did two layers, so half and then half, but whatever makes your heart sing!

After the 1st layer of chili and before the 2nd layer of tortillas, I threw in some fresh onions and peppers for a little crunch!

Once you’ve made your layers, top with whatever type of cheese you like and then into a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly.

I like it a little burnt around the edges, but you can always take it out earlier 🙂

Served here with a box of Spanish-style rice and (as always) guacamole -- Click for recipe

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The box of rice — not my idea. I’m not sure if you’re aware, but these things called “relationships” they often take compromise, and my man wanted the rice, which I did not care about (I’m more of a double beans, hold the rice, type of gal). But like I said, he wanted the rice, he picked out the box, I followed the directions on the back and you can, too!

Leftovers? What leftovers… What I meant to say was: POP POP.

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