What to do with leftovers?!

As you well know, I love roasted poultry. That is my comfort food. But I’m not a big fan of leftovers. As a matter of fact, I have “food rules” regarding if and when I’ll eat a leftover. I will not bore you with those details, but let’s just say my husband will have no problem having me committed should it ever come to that. All he has to do is give them my “Leftover Rules”. While my husband has his own “Food Rules”, none apply to leftovers. He loves them. He’ll eat them as long as they exist. So over the years, to accommodate my husband’s love of leftovers, I have “created” recipes that reinvent leftovers, making a whole new meal. It’s a psychological trick I play on myself and it works. So either the recipes are good or I’m just not as smart as I think. Feel free to let me know what your opinion is;-)

Dale began his love of leftovers in college with his roommate, Bryan. The boys reveled in the fact that they could cook 1 casserole and eat off of it all week. My best friend, who dated and eventually married Bryan, and I assumed the boys were lying. We couldn’t imagine how they could do this. I couldn’t imagine why they would do it. Ewwww! That’s about 10 meals of the same food in a row with the exception of breakfast. So when the boys invited us over dinner, to say I was concerned was an understatement.

“Don’t worry,” my future husband said, “it’ll be fine. You’ll love it.” And we did. It was a delicious meal.

It was so good that I asked, “Is this fattening? I’m betting it is high in calories.”

“No, not at all.” Dale assured me. “I’ll give you the recipe if you want.” The evening continued pleasantly. Later that same evening, after arriving back at our apartment, Deb and I had some serious stomach issues. The kind you experience when you eat really rich food that your college G.I. tract is not accustomed to. I called Dale the next day to get the recipe. Upon reading the recipe, I realized why Deb and I experienced such discomfort. Heavy cream, full-fat cream soup, full-fat sour cream, and lots of cheese were in the recipe. We were also very bummed because it was a really great casserole. So after I married Dale, I set out to reinvent the yummy casserole of fat so Deb and I could enjoy it as much as the boys without the side effects.

Cutting the fat does not mean losing the flavor. Flavor can be enhanced with herbs, not just fat. And when you use herbs and spices to enhance the flavor, you may discover a whole new flavor to love. So below are two of Dale’s favorite recipes that I modified so we could all enjoy them. Dale gets to eat the casseroles he loves and I’ve found ways to utilize the leftovers I don’t. It’s a win-win!! Mangia!

Dale’s Chicken Enchiladas

½ cup chopped onions
1 Tblspn of light butter
8 oz. fat-free cream cheese, softened
1 Tblspn of skim milk
½ tsp salt
½ tsp cumin
2 Cup of leftover poultry, chicken or turkey
1 Cup low-fat Monterey Jack or mild Cheddar cheese
4 oz. of chopped green chiles
1 cup of frozen corn
8 inch flour tortillas
1 10 ¾ oz can of fat-free condensed condensed cream of chicken soup
8 oz fat-free sour cream
1 cup skim milk
1 raw jalapeno, seeded and chopped (you can add more or less to taste)
1 cup of Monterey Jack or mild Cheddar cheese

Cook the onions and the butter, until the onions caramelize. In a bowl, combine the softened cream cheese, milk, salt, cumin, cheese, chiles, corn and chicken. Add cooked onions and stir together until well combined.

Spoon about ½ cup of chicken mixture onto each tortilla near one edge; Roll up. Place filled tortilla, seam side down, in a greased 13 x 9 inch baking dish.
In a bowl, combine soup, sour cream, milk and jalapeno pepper. Pour the soup mixture evenly over the tortillas in the baking dish. Cover with foil and bake for 35 minutes at 350 degrees.

Remove foil and sprinkle enchiladas with remaining 1 cup of cheese. Return to the oven, uncovered, for an additional 5 minutes or until the cheese is melted.
Makes 6-8 servings

Turkey Tetrazzini

Topping:

2 cups of bread crumbs
Pinch of salt
1 Tblspn of dried parsley
1 tsp of paprika
3 Tblspns of light butter
¼ cup of parmesan cheese, grated
Soften butter in microwave or out on counter. Mix with salt, parsley, paprika and bread crumbs. When cool, mix in grated cheese. Set aside.

Filling:

1 lb of spaghetti or other, long thin pasta
8 Tblspns of light butter
12 oz. of white button mushrooms, cleaned, trimmed and sliced thin
1 large onion, minced
½ cup A. P. flour
2 ½ cups of chicken stock or broth
4 Tblspns dry sherry or white wine
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
¼ tsp freshly ground nutmeg
1 Tblspn lemon juice
1 tsp dried Thyme
4 cups of leftover turkey, diced
1 Cup of frozen peas
1 Cup of summer squash, sliced and diced

Cook spaghetti according to package except only boil pasta for about 5-7 minutes. Pasta should be slightly underdone. Save a ladleful of the cooking water for later. Return pasta to the pot. Toss with a little olive oil to prevent sticking.
Spray a 13 x 9 casserole with no stick spray.

In a medium saucepan, sauté mushrooms and onions in the butter until the liquid evaporates. This should take about 7-10 minutes. Now add the flour and cook, stirring constantly until flour turns golden. (about 2 minutes) Continue stirring while adding chicken stock. Adjust heat to medium-high and simmer until mixture thickens, about 4 minutes. Take saucepan off the heat and stir in sherry, parmesan, nutmeg, salt to taste, lemon juice and thyme. Add turkey, summer squash and peas to the sauce and stir well.

Pour sauce into pasta pot and toss to coat the spaghetti. Add salt and pepper to taste, if necessary. Turn entire mixture into casserole dish and sprinkle with the bread crumb topping.

Bake at 350 degrees, uncovered for 25-30 minutes. Serve immediately.