Tuesday, April 23, 2013

reinventing leftovers

I don't know about you, but I really don't care much for leftovers.  Now, that's not to say I don't eat a LOT of them -- especially during the week, as I like a hot lunch and don't have much time to cook dinner these days -- but they aren't my favorite, you know?

I love new ways to reinvent leftovers, though!  We finally got around to trying these two-ingredient veggie burgers last night, and I'm happy to report they were a hit.
















How to make them?  Blend together 1 cup quick oats and 1 cup moist leftovers (bean stew, roasted veggies, mashed potatoes or sweet potatoes, drained soup, etc.)  A food processor would be ideal for this blending, although I used my stick blender with good results, as I don't have a food processor.  I'd also suggest adding some additional salt and/or seasonings, as the quantity of oats may make your burgers pretty bland.  Cook the burgers in a moderate skillet, as they may be a little "wetter" than typical veggie burgers, and you want them to have plenty of time to dry out and firm up.  Voila!  I even had good success freezing the burger base until I was ready to use it.

I see a lot of veggie burgers in our future.  Something tells me John won't complain one bit!  :)

What's your favorite way to reinvent leftovers?

2 comments:

Carrie™ said...

What a great idea! I never would have thought of that. I'm not great with leftovers either. I don't mind eating them, but usually it's just zapped in the microwave for my lunch the next day. My mother is the queen of leftovers. She can take 3 days worth of stuff out of the fridge, throw it all together and it turns out fabulous.
I got away from blogging for a while, but have just started up again. I used to write on House of Simon, but I lost my Simon. He passed away in August. I didn't want to post on there, so I just started up a new one. I see you've have some big changes in your life. Congratulations!!

Emily said...

Such a smart idea! Wow. I pretty much despise leftovers. :)