Notes on Creativity - Use Your Leftovers

For some, leftovers have a bad connotation, likely bringing back reminders of Chinese food boxes that get pushed way way back into the deep abyss of the refrigerator only to emerge during the annual refrigerator clean out. My memories of leftovers are luckily a little different. Words cannot describe the taste of leftover meatloaf piled high on a crusty italian roll with some red onion and mayonaise. Or the next day tastiness of those few pieces of lasagna that remained in the pan at the end of a meal. I am a big proponent of taking leftovers and eating them 'as is' or taking them to the next level by recreating their flavor in an entirely different recipe.

Last Saturday we celebrated Cinco e Mayo at Timmy's house. The menu included grilled peppers (red, yellow and Anaheim) and sweet yellow onions. The following day we hosted another party at John and Ander's house and used the leftover peppers and onions (there were a lot of leftovers) for an orzo salad that was out of this world. We chopped up the grilled peppers and onions (about a total of 3-4 cups) and added about 3 tbsp of olive oil, 1/2 cup of unseasoned rice vinegar, 2-3 tsp of chipotle powder and a little bit of cumin. Then we added about a 1/2 cup of currants that had been soaking in hot water for about a 1/2 hour. Once the orzo was done cooking we added it to the mixing bowl with salt and pepper to taste, stirred well and served. People loved the dish and we realized one of the many values of leftovers is putting them to use in a whole new way. So don't throw them away. Get creative.