Getting the most from your leftovers

It reads like an upscale menu: Garden Sunshine Burger with Plum Chutney, Wild Rice, Sauteed Kale and Skillet Potatoes. You'd never guess this meal would be made from leftovers. And better yet, put together in 15 minutes.

Often in those situations when I don't feel like cooking, I look to my Tupperware containers for guidance. This week I found a container of wild rice looking for a new home, as well as some potatoes from a weekend brunch.

Yet rice and potatoes hardly make a complete meal. So I began my search for protein, and found some Sunshine Burgers in my freezer - made entirely from brown rice, sunflower seeds, carrots and herbs. For the vegetable, I cooked up some kale. A simple preparation which I've made countless times - sauteing garlic and chili flakes in olive oil, with kale and sea salt.

Almost done. My lunch was just missing some flavor. And so I turned to my trusty condiments, where I found a great homemade plum chutney I purchased from a sweet Indian lady at my local farmers market. I could now enjoy my lunch.

Want to make the most of your leftovers? Here are a few tips:

Tip 1: Make twice as much rice as you need. Why? Cause it can be used in all sorts of dishes. For ideas check out my recipes for Coconut milk rice pudding, Japanese breakfast, and Mexican rice and beans.

Tip 2: Keep plenty of condiments on hand. There is no better way to make leftovers more exciting. Personal favorites include Hampton Chutney Cilantro Chutney, Sriracha hot sauce, and Green Mountain Gringo's salsa.

Tip 3: Always serve something fresh with something old. Even if just making a simple salad or vegetable saute, it helps bring more excitement and aliveness to your meal.

My Thanksgiving Menu (thanks Google!)

Nothing makes me happier than planning my entire day around food. No occassion is more nurturing of this love than Thanksgiving. And no place, more accomodating than my parents home in Virginia, where I am currently spending this holiday.

While I have shunned the suburbs for most of my adult life, I must say the sheer amount of counter space really makes cooking a lot of fun. Especially when coming from my cramped Brooklyn kitchen.

Swati and I dreamed up our menu on the car ride down. We opted for a vegetarian feast, based on seasonal flavors, full of delicious sides. With a menu that features a good combination of old and new dishes.

This year we are truly grateful for Google as it has helped us mainfest a number of our ideas - including a roasted chestnut soup and gluten-free pumpkin bread.

We got the idea for chestnut soup after a visit to the Natural Gourmet Institute last winter. My friend Katie was completing her Chef's Training program and prepared a delicious chestnut soup as part of the school's Friday Night Dinner series. We were unable to get a hold of a recipe from her, but instead found a great, simple one on NYTimes.com courtesy of 'The Minimalist' Mark Bittman.

The pumpkin bread was also brought to us by Google (keyword : gluten free pumpkin bread almond meal). As you can imagine by my search, the intention was to find a recipe that featured almond meal, as I was eager to use up my supply of this ingredient from the zucchini nut bread I made this summer. We were taken to a great recipe from The Hall Center. In addition to using almond meal as the base (instead of white flour) it also calls for coconut oil (instead of butter) and agave nectar (instead of sugar). As a health counselor, I think my hands were tied on this one.

Here's the complete menu for tonight:

Roasted Chestnut Soup
Wild Rice and Cranberries
Sauteed Kale with Garlic
Roasted Sweet Potatoes
Macaroni and Cheese
Pumpkin Bread

I look forward to sharing the highlights and pictures from this evening. Happy Thanksgiving!

Planning my week, at least the meal part

I love a good challenge. And every week I am handed one when I pickup my CSA share. Yes, lots of great produce direct from the farm. But what do I do with it?

This week I picked up some beautiful tomatoes (six different kinds!), green beans, corn, zucchini, carrots (purple ones!), red peppers, potatoes, lettuce, garlic, peaches, and apples.

I don't know about you, but I really don't want all this produce to go bad. So the first thing I do when I get home is make a plan. This includes taking an inventory of my produce (old and new), and then brainstorming a bunch of tasty possibilities. I like to use a chalkboard to list all this.

Here is what mine looks like as of today --->

Possibilites for this week include: Gazpacho, Fennel and Apple Salad, Corn Chowder, Carrot Halwa, Tortilla Espanola, Zucchini Cakes, and Green Bean Stir-Fry with Tofu. Anyone else getting hungry?

Some of these dishes I have made before. Others I have not. I'm not even sure if I have all the ingredients that I need! And that is okay. I usually look up the ingredients later - either finding a recipe in one of my cookbooks or on the Internet (Google is truly amazing for this).

For added fun, try doing this with your partner! It is a great creative exercise and will bring you two together around food and meal planning.

Oh and it helps to have a well stocked pantry. Hmm...mental note for future post. :)