Leftovers + Cucina Nicolina = Mmmmmmm

Image by Brian Vallelunga via Flickr

Never have leftovers been so ... appealing.

Nicole has come up with some new ideas for used food in an article in the Washington Post which argues that leftovers are not a recipe for disaster. No, food love doesn't mean having to say you're sorry (for having to eat the same thing, day after day, until you are sick of it and next time I'm going to cut that recipe in half or even quarters I am so tired of this).

No, the creative force behind Cuccina Nicolina believes that leftovers are an opportunity to innovate, that they are -- wait for it -- ingredients for the Next Great Meal.

"I couldn't bring myself to throw anything away anyway," Nicole told peepsNet in an entirely made-up interview. "But the chance to use the remnants of one meal to create an equally-compelling second meal is just the sort of challenge I like."

No, we are not talking Stone Soup (or even Noodle Soup). We're talking Quinoa Stew and Banana-Chocolate Bread.






Sorry, I must have passed out there for a moment. Where were we?

Oh yes. I remember. Nicole was invited to guest blog at "A Mighty Appetite" on the subject of "Eating down the fridge." I know what you're thinking. This isn't about eating a pickle of questionable provenance and washing it down with the brine. This is about taking a pickle of questionable provenance and very nearly turning it into a chocolate soufflé.

How many of you have eaten this well on what could have been landfill?

The first night I made a fine dinner of chickpeas and the spinach I'd picked up at my neighborhood farmer’s market. I sauteed a few cloves of garlic in olive oil, added the chickpeas, spinach and a splash of water. I poured the whole mess over a pot of couscous. The next night, I tumbled in from my run, chilly and starving, and went immediately for the protein punch of quinoa, to which I added a mushroom, asparagus, and white bean stir fry. The next after that, I roasted half a head of cauliflower and heated up the leftover couscous and chickpeas, freeing up even more space in the fridge. I found a box of long-neglected ravioli I'd never gotten around to finishing, and so happily lapped them up with a from-canned-tomatoes sauce. The shelves were clearing up just a little bit. Toward the end of the week I finished off the cauli, some baked tofu that'd been lingering for a while and the rest of the quinoa. I was sated and my fridge was bare of leftovers.

Ordinarly, I'd end a post like this with, "And she cooks, too." But somehow I think you got that already.