What to do with leftover boiled dinner (corned beef hash)

Hi! I made this a bunch of days ago, but then I went away with my sister for the weekend and then worked and some other things happened. Now I have a day off and despite how nice and sunny it looks outside, it's still winter. It snowed yesterday. Hmph.

Anyway, this is one of my favorite breakfasts, and there is nothing more sad than eating all your corned beef at night and then waking up in the morning and realizing it's gone and you can't make hash. Boo. It's easy and fast and good and you can even add in some spinach to make it healthier. If you want to do that, spread a few handfuls of spinach over the hash right before you add the eggs, then when it's wilted, stir it in and add the eggs. We did this for dinner last night.

Corned beef hash


a bunch of leftover corned beef
some leftover potatoes
maybe some cooked vegetables if you have any (I added carrots)
eggs
salt and pepper

Cube up your meat and potatoes and vegetables into little pieces. Heat up a pan with about a tablespoon of olive oil or butter, and toss in the cubed things. Press down with the back of a spatula, and cook without stirring about ten minutes over medium heat, until brown and crusty. Flip over the best you can, pat down again, and cook another few minutes. Crack an egg or two or three on the top and lower the heat, and cover. Cook until the whites are set and the yellow is still runny. Serve immediately.

Baked risotto full of leftovers

Hi, remember me? Sorry I haven't been around, I feel like I'm always full of excuses. I lost my camera charger, and worked too many days in a row then had a long weekend and then am working too many days in a row again. Anyway, this is a good, easy, lazy person dinner. We all know how I love lazy person dinners. You can use whatever leftovers you have, or even just make it plain.

Baked risotto with leftovers


1 1/2 c risotto rice
4 c chicken broth
1/2 c tomato sauce
1/2 to 2 c leftover things, like chopped meat or vegetables
1/2 c Parmesan cheese
1 T butter
salt and pepper

Preheat your oven to 350. Combine rice and broth and tomato sauce and leftover things in a casserole dish. Stir, then cover with foil and cook 45 minutes. When the rice is done, stir in the cheese, butter, and salt and pepper. Serves four.

See how easy?

Dumpling filling spring rolls

Did you make way too much filling for dumplings and get stuck with too much filling? Oops so did I. I got sick of making dumplings about 2/3 of the way through the filling, and instead of just cooking up some noodles to use the rest of the filling with, I decided to make spring rolls. Super easy, super good.

Dumpling filling spring rolls


whatever filling you have left from making spinach dumplings
spring roll wrappers (rice paper ones, obviously)

Place 2 tablespoons of filling in the middle of a softened (in warm water) spring roll wrapper. Fold up the side closest to you, then fold over the left and the right. Pulling gently down towards you to make the filling in a tight line, roll towards the remaining side to seal. set aside and repeat with the rest of the filling. Pan fry in a little oil on each side, like you would a sausage. Serve hot, with dipping sauce!

"Things I find in the refrigerator" soup

As I've said before, Alex loves it when I make soup. The other night when it was raining and crappy and miserable out, I made soup to go with the sweet corn pudding I made. When I make soup, I follow this process, instead of following recipes, because usually when I make soup I make it with a tub of stock fron the freezer plus things I find in the fridge, like leftover meat, veggies that needed to be eaten yesterday, and other stuff I find. Things-from-the-fridge soup always turns out delicious, and often can be a whole meal - you have plenty of veggies, a meat, and often a starch, maybe even some dairy. 

Things from the fridge soup

This is not a recipe but a process. Use whatever you have left in your fridge!

1. First things first. If you are using frozen stock, microwave it or thaw it in a pan on the stove. 

2. Chop all your vegetables. I always use onion and garlic, this time I added carrots, celery, a parsnip, and Chinese broccoli. If your vegetables have leafy greens, like bok choy or Chinese broccoli, slice the stems and use them now. Set aside the leafy greens to be added in at the end. 

3. If you are using raw meat, cook it now, then remove from the pan and set aside. 

4. Heat a bit of butter or olive oil in your soup pot. Add your chopped veggies, and cook 5-10 minutes until softened and starting to brown. I know all these vegetables cook for different amounts of time, but they're going to keep cooking in the soup so it will be ok. 

5. Once vegetables are soft, add tomato if you are using tomatoes. 

6. Add some salt and pepper, and if you want to add some spices do it now. I often use cumin and coriander, or curry powder, and paprika and chili powder if you want a kick. Cook the spices for a minute, stirring. 

7. Add the stock (and some water if it's strong, or if you don't have a lot of stock) and stir to get anything stuck on the bottom of the pan into the liquid. Bring to a simmer. 

8. Add whatever starch you are using (unless you're using pasta). I usually use rice, but buckwheat is great, and quinoa is too. Simmer, stirring, for 15 minutes. 

9. Add cooked meat back to the pot. If using pasta, add it now. Cook about 5 minutes, until meat is hot and has taken in some of the soup juices. (You can add the meat earlier, of course, and let it cook further with the vegetables.) If you're using tofu instead of meat, add it now. 

10. Dump in all your greens, if using. Cook just until wilted. 

11. At this point, you are done. However, there are other optional things you can do, like crack in some eggs, stir in some cream or cheese or yogurt, add a sliced avocado and some tortilla chips, or stir in some miso (make sure it's gf!). 

chilaquiles, or the most delicious, easy dinner ever

When Dana came to visit over Thanksgiving, we ordered from the Mexican place down the street (around the corner, really, Taqueria Los Jalapenos), that Alex, Sarah and I love. Everything there is great, the woman who runs it laughs at us because we get so much food for so few people, and it's a good "I don't feel like cooking tonight let's order out" option. They redo their menu every few months, and something was added that we hadn't had before. Chilaquiles. The menu reads: Tortillas en salsa verde con huevo, bistek, o pollo. We called to see if it was corn or flour tortillas, and it's corn. So we ordered, with chicken, and it was delicious. Except for one thing. It was too spicy for us to eat more than a few bites at once. Dana and I both like spicy food (bet you never saw that coming, Ma!) but this burned our mouths. And lips. But it was so good. So we kept eating, alternating with whatever else we got (I don't remember).
But we kept thinking about it. Maybe a month later, Dana emailed me to tell me she made it at home, after looking it up on the web. She said it was so good! And that I should make it ASAP. That ASAP turned into last week. I finally made it. I did it a little different than she did, I baked mine istead of making it on the stovetop, and I used cheddar instead of queso fresco because I didn't have it. And Oh My God it was good. I made it for myself on a day that I didn't think Alex would be home, but he ended up coming home early and eating with me. We licked the pot clean. It was so good. Chilaquiles are a mixture of salsa, chips, and cheese, with meat or other things if you want to add them. The day after I made them I was telling my co-workers about them, because we usually have "What did you have for dinner last night" discussions. Both the people I was talking to about it went home and made it that night, one with soy chicken and the other with ground beef. They both came back the next day raving. My mom made it last night, she said it was too spicy (don't use spicy salsa!!) but that her boyfriend loved it. If I wasn't worried about getting sick of it, I'd make it every night for at least a week.
My recipe is in no way authentic, but it is delicious. Add whatever you want to it, make it without cheese, without meat or use different meat, use a red salsa instead of green. Use stale tortilla chips instead of frying your own. Bake the tortillas in the oven (as my mom did) instead of frying them for a less greasier option. Use your imagination.

Chilaquiles
1 jar salsa, I love this with Frontera verde, not so much with the 365 Wholefoods pictured at the top, it was too spicy for me, but Alex and Sarah liked it.
1 package (6-12) corn tortillas, or a bag of stale tortilla chips
a few pieces of chicken (or leftover chicken)
your choice of cheese
sour cream
1/2 to 1 c chicken broth or water

Heat the oven to 350.
Cut the tortillas into strips or triangles. Heat a pan of oil, fry the chips quickly and drain on paper towels. I like to salt them when they're just out of the oil, then eat some while I'm frying the rest.
Heat the salsa and broth in a pan, add chicken. Cook chicken through, cut up into small pieces or shred. Grate the cheese.
In alternating layers, place into a casserole dish: salsa first, then chips, then chicken, then the salsa-stock mix, then cheese. Repeat until you have no more chips left, sprinkle cheese all over the top and dot with sour cream. Bake 20-45 minutes, however long you want to wait. If you don't care that the chips will disintegrate, cook for longer.

fried thanksgiving

I've been eating a lot of leftovers lately, obviously, like everyone else in America. I haven't had anything fried in a while, so I mixed together some stuff and fried it. AWESOME IDEA.

Fried Thanksgiving
as much stuffing as you want
leftover turkey, chopped up or shredded into small pieces
a touch of gravy
oil for frying
rice flour for dusting (I used white)
cranberry sauce for serving with

Mix together the stuffing and turkey in a bowl. Add enough cold gravy to make a sticky mess that you can form into a ball. Roll in rice flour, fry in hot oil on each side until crispy and brown. Be careful, it'll be messy. Carefully blot with paper towel, then serve with cranberry sauce.