Left Over but Not Forgotten

I hate leftovers. Perhaps I have talked about this before, but it bears repeating because I really do hate them. Part of it is that I have a very low boredom threshold, and therefore need a lot of variety in my diet (hello, 875 Yelp reviews - sigh). Part of it is that the next day's re-heated meal can never match the beauty and taste of the original presentation. It will always be a little wilted, dried out, soggy, browned, whatever. Leftovers just look sad to me, like bum clothes - once lovely, now soiled and tattered, shadows of their former selves.

The thing is, I also hate to throw out food.

So this just forces me to be creative with leftovers. I am pleased to say that all of my meals today were made with leftovers from Saturday night's dinner, and they were all good!

Sweet Potato Pancakes with raisins for breakfast:

Seared Ahi on Arugula with Lemon Vinaigrette for lunch:

Chili-Lime Pork Tacos for dinner:

Kirsten's Sweet Potato Salad

On Sunday I found this funny sweet potato at the Farmers Market and had to buy it - doesn't it look just like a pig's trotter? How perfect for today when I decided to try my friend Kirsten's Sweet Potato Salad recipe, which has a savory warm bacon dressing.

I love roasting the sweet potatoes this way - I actually did not stir them at all and let them caramelize and get a little sticky - so wonderful, it's hard to keep from eating them right off of the pan. The dressing is a gorgeous and colorful combination of vegetables, bacon fat, fresh ginger and cumin.

You only use a little of the bacon fat and the rest is olive oil, so it's not as unhealthy as it might sound. The citrus from the orange is a nice combination, and even though it said four portions, I was able to eat two at one sitting with no problem.

The only change that I made was to add orange zest to the dressing before squeezing the juice, and I added some salt and pepper after tossing the salad. Delicious!

Kirsten's Sweet Potato Salad

• 2 sweet potatoes, peeled, cut into pieces
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 thick slices of bacon
• 1 bell pepper, cored and chopped
• 1 small red onion, halved and thinly sliced
• 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, peeled and minced
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• Juice from 1 orange
• 1 pound fresh spinach

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Put potatoes on a baking sheet, drizzle with two tablespoons of the oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper; toss to coat. Roast, turning occasionally, until crisp and brown outside and tender inside, about 30 minutes. Remove and keep on the pan until ready to use. While potatoes cook, put bacon in a stainless steel or other nonreactive skillet and turn heat to medium. Cook, turning once or twice, until crisp. Drain on paper towels and pour off fat, leaving darkened bits in the pan. Put back on medium heat; add remaining oil to the pan. When hot, add bell pepper, onion, and ginger to the pan. Cook, stirring once or twice until just softened, about five minutes; stir in cumin and bacon (broken into pieces). Stir in orange juiceand turn off heat. (The recipe can be made up to an hour or so ahead to this point. Gently warm dressing again before proceeding.) Put spinach in a bowl large enough to comfortably toss the salad. Add the potatoes and warm dressing. Toss to combine. Serves four.

10/29/09 Update:

I made it the next day for lunch, and added some garbanzo beans. Delicious - this is going to be on my regular lunch rotation for sure.

Sweet Potato Supersalad

This lovely salad is so delicious and nutritious, I want to call it a Supersalad. It includes rich orange sweet potatoes, which are powerhouses in themselves - a great source of dietary fiber (with the skins on), complex carbohydrates, protein - not to mention twice the recommended allowance of vitamin A, 42 percent of vitamin C, four times the RDA for beta carotene. This, from a food so naturally sweet and flavorful? What a treasure.

And then we have quinoa - another powerhouse. It acts like a starch, giving a similar texture to rice or couscous, but it is actually a complete protein. It includes the amino acid lysine, which is essential for tissue repair, as well as magnesium, iron, copper and phosphorus. All of this in a humble looking little "grain" - why go back to rice?

I got this recipe online from Mark Bittman, who among other things is great at balancing flavors and creating simple but interesting dishes. It makes a lovely fall lunch or side dish, and would be excellent for a pot luck. I did it in stages, making the sweet potatoes and quinoa the night before, refrigerating them, and assembling the salad the next day, so it felt like it really took no time at all.

And economical - I don't think you can beat it. The sweet potatoes came from the Farmers Market, so that was about $1.50, the quinoa is from Trader Joe's, and I had the rest of the ingredients on hand already. Probably about $6 or less for a huge bowl of 4-6 servings.

Sweet Potoato and Quinoa Salad

• 2 1/2 C. cooked quinoa (can also use millet)
• 1 large or 2 med sweet potatoes
• Salt, Pepper
• 1 red bell pepper, cored, seeded, and diced
• 1/4 C. minced red onion or shallot
• 1/4 C. extra virgin olive oil
• 2 T. balsamic, sherry, or red wine vinegar
• 1/4 minced fresh chives or parsley leaves (I used Italian Parsley)

Cook quinoa or other grain. Drain in a strainer and rinse.

Peel the sweet potato and dice into 1/2 in. or smaller pieces. Cook in boiling salted water to cover until tender, about 15 min. Drain well.

Toss together the potato, quinoa, red bell pepper, and onion - sprinkle with salt and pepper. Whisk the oil and vinegar together and toss the salad with about half of this mixture. (I added my chopped parsley at this point). Add all or some of the rest to taste. Taste and adjust the seasoning, garnish with chives and serve.