Now What?

Thanks to the growing popularity of Tasty Tuesday (yay! so glad you guys like it!), a serious question has been brought to my attention: what the heck do you do with the leftover ingredients?  The most prominent example is the (exaggeration alert) ten thousand pounds of random yet delicious cheeses used in the Spinach and Artichoke dip.  Since the grocery stores have yet to figure out a way to package and sell smaller quantities of asiago and romano cheese, here are a couple options that might solve your leftover problems (and free up space in your refrigerator for next week's Tasty Tuesday creation).

Above Photo Courtesy of http://mydatinghangovers.com

Leftover Cheese:
Add it in an omelet.  I can speak from personal experience that adding a little asiago cheese to an omelet is one of the best things that has ever happened to me on a Saturday morning.

Make some delicious 'artisan' bread.  Try this recipe for Sun Dried Tomato and Asiago Cheese bread from allrecipes.com:  http://allrecipes.com/recipe/asiago-toasted-cheese-puffs/detail.aspx

Add it to your favorite pasta.  Why is everything always topped with parmesan cheese?  Why not switch it up and mix the parmesan with some asiago and sprinkle that over the carb-riddled delicacy of your choice.  Or you could take it one step further and actually put it in the pasta.  Add a couple handfulls to the ricotta in your lasagna or in a homemade vegetable ravioli.

Make a homemade Fancy Shmancy Mac 'n Cheese.  Melt the cheese with some cream, pour over cooked macaroni.  Spoon into casserole dish, sprinkle bread toppings over it.  Bake for 10-15 minutes at 325-350F.  For an added bonus, you can use the bread you removed from the boule as the topping.  Toast the chunks of bread, then put them through a food processor until you have coarse crumbs no larger than a grain of rice, sprinkle over the top of your macaroni, et voila!

Make a quesadilla.  Two tortillas with some cheese.  Done.  For added flavor, I like spread barbeque sauce on one tortilla.  Sooooo good.

Leftover Spinach Dip
There shouldn't be any.

Leftover Veggies
You've made a veggie tray because you found an awesome dip recipe (ahem: upcoming Tasty Tuesday post? Perhaps) and now you've got four pounds of fresh cut veggies to use up.  Make a stir fry.  Toss the veggies in a skillet with some olive oil and soy sauce, toss in some sesame seeds (and the meat of your choice, if desired).  Let it sautee for a while and boom.  Instant yumminess.

Make a salsa.  Dice up some peppers, throw in a couple tomatoes, add a dash of vinegar and some onions.  Boil so everything simmers and melds together.  Trust me, it's easy and yummy.  You can even get some cheap mason jars at your local hardware store and bottle it up for easy storage.

Healthy snack.  Separate the mixed veggies into smaller portion sizes and bag them up.  You have snacks to last you for a while, so when you're feeling like you want something crunchy, you reach for your pre-packaged veggies rather than the chips.

Leftover Creams
A common problem for me but easily remedied.  Make your own whipped cream.  Add some vanilla (or the flavoring of your choice) and some sugar.  Using your electric mixer on high speed, whip the cream until soft peaks form.  Nothing says light and satisfying dessert like fresh berries and homemade whipped cream.   **Soft peaks means when you turn the mixer off and raise the beaters out of the cream, the cream will follow upwards and maintain it's shape.**

Above photo courtesy of www.about.com (direct link here)

Add the cream to tomato soup and it instantly becomes a bisque.  It makes it creamier and, quite frankly, just plan yummier.  You can use the cream as a base to tons of soup recipes.  

Make your own butter.  No, I'm not kidding and yes it's incredibly easy.  Put two cups of heavy cream and 1/4 tsp of salt (optional, it adds flavor but it's not vital) into a blender or food processor.  Let the cream "churn" for 10 minutes or until it starts to separate.  Pour out the liquid, then press the butter into a container with the back of a spoon to push out even more liquid.  If you're feeling fancy, you can add a little bit of honey before you pack it into the container.  Stir well, then pack as normal.  You've just made honeybutter, which tastes great on an english muffin or a biscuit.

The options for leftovers are endless.  It's just about using your imagination.  If a recipe you try doesn't come out well, don't just shove it off and never try it again.  Think about what you didn't like and what you could change to make it more to your tastes.  That's the fun part of cooking: everything is an experiment.  

Question of the Day:  What's your favorite leftover recipe?