So you’re sitting there thinking, how the heck am I going to make this leftover restaurant food taste good? First, don’t you dare put that fish in the microwave. Or those fries. In fact, I’d avoid the microwave when reheating leftovers (especially from take-out/delivery/etc) because it’s going to have an awful texture. Fried food won’t be crispy, just saturated in oil. Proteins won’t be juicy, just rubbery. No one wants to eat a tire.
While this might only be one recipe, it should inspire you think about what you can do with those leftovers to… make them even better than when you first had them. That’s our goal at home and my challenge every night. For this particular recipe, we had some spinach & artichoke dip from a crummy pizza delivery night, but we turned it into a fine dining experience. How? Here you are.
- White Mushrooms (sliced)
- White Wine
- Lemon
- Garlic
- Salt & Pepper
- Olive Oil
- Penne (dry pasta)
- Butter
- Morningstar Crumbles
- SPINACH & ARTICHOKE DIP!
- Pan on medium heat; coat with olive oil.
- Add mushrooms, salt & pepper.
- Follow instructions for microwaving (oops!) the Morningstar Crumbles.
- Bring pasta water to a boil. SALT!
- (At this point, you're balancing three different cooks for one dish, luckily, there is no prep in terms of cutting, etc.)
- Add butter to the mushrooms because everything is better with butter. (Fine dining, remember?)
- Add white wine, lemon and then garlic. (If you add the garlic too early, it will burn.)
- NOW ADD THE SPINACH ARTICHOKE DIP and let it make some love in the pan.
- Add the pasta to the water. (Doesn't take long; we like al dente and it will cook more in the pan.)
- Don't drain the juice from the crumbles; add it all to the pan.
- Season the pan mixture (now it's a ragu/faux ragu - not really a ragout) with salt, pepper, more lemon, and more wine.
- Add some pasta water to the ragu; drain the pasta.
- Add the pasta to the ragu.
- Salt & pepper again!
- Eat it!
Fine dining with meh take-out food and frozen fake meat. Honestly, this was one of the tastiest dishes I’ve ever made. And while it came out a little dry, I tweaked the recipe to keep it 100. Leftovers don’t have to be boring. Make them your own, make them exciting, make them tasty! Have fun with your leftovers to stay hungry and fit!
BONUS KITTY PIC
One of our current (and my favorite) foster kitten trying to work out with me
