Nourish Network Make Your Dishes Do Double Duty

Make Your Dishes Do Double Duty

By Lia Huber

One of the My Nourish Mentor crew mentioned during a session on meal planning recently that she loved the tips for getting creative with leftovers … especially now that summer’s here. I agree. Whether it’s the heat or just wanting to squeeze every little drop out of these long days, I’m less motivated to start meals from scratch every night of the week. So I look for ways to make the dishes I do cook do double duty.

summer-leftovers I mentioned three ideas for getting creative with leftovers at Thanksgiving. Here are three more geared towards summertime:

Plan ahead and make extra. While the piece on Thanksgiving leftovers is about using up what you already have, in summertime you have to be a bit more deliberate. Especially if you’re grilling, double the amount so you’ll have leftovers to work with. Alberto’s Marinated Grilled Asparagus, for instance, makes great picnic fare the next day.
Think cool. Odds are when you do cook, you’ll eat your dinner hot off the grill (or out of the sauté pan). But flip the coin, too, and think of how the leftovers would shine when chilled. Like tossing these Spicy Sweet Shrimp in a fresh Glass Noodle Salad the next day.
Season boldly. It’s one thing to have leftover steak (yawn). Entirely another to have a Spice Rubbed Skirt Steak to star in South of the Border Steak Salad with Grilled Peppers and Corn Salsa. Boldly flavored foods bring personality to reimagined leftovers later in the week, keeping your meals from being just ho-hum.

What are your favorite “take two” ideas?

Glass Noodle Salad with Spicy Sweet Shrimp

Holy smokes is this yummy! Is about all I have to say. And ridiculously easy to pull together, too, especially if you have extra Spicy Sweet Shrimp on hand–or substitute other leftovers, like Mahogany Grilled Chicken. Packed with flavor yet light and refreshing, it’s a go-to, one-dish meal for the dog days of summer.

cellophane-noodle-salad-recipe DRESSING

1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup boiling water
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
2 teaspoons chile paste, like sambal olek
2 cloves garlic, peeled and pounded to a paste in a mortar and pestle with a pinch of salt

SALAD

6 ounces cellophane noodles, aka bean thread noodles
1/4 cup scallions, sliced
1/4 cup carrot, julienned
1/4 cup red bell pepper, julienned
1/2 cup cucumber, peeled, halved lengthwise, seeded and thinly sliced crosswise
1/4 cup mint, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup cilantro, coarsely chopped
2 cups mixed lettuce
1 pound Spicy Sweet Shrimp
2 tablespoons peanuts, chopped

In a small bowl, dissolve the sugar in the boiling water, then stir in fish sauce, lime juice, chile paste and garlic. Cool in refrigerator.

In a large bowl, pour boiling water over the cellophane noodles and let soak for 5 minutes. Drain and cut into manageable lengths with kitchen sheers.

In that same large bowl, mix together noodles through lettuce. Toss well with dressing. Top with shrimp and peanuts.

Serves 4