Before marriage and children I would never touch leftovers (also when I enjoyed wasting money on too much fast food). I thought leftovers were old tasting and did not reflect the original flavor. These days I eat leftovers a couple days a week at least. I've even stooped to leftover night (*Gasp) for dinner when the containers start to pile up. You might laugh at my childishness but, seriously, I want my food fresh. So what changed? The way I reheat them is the major change here.
Follow these steps and hopefully you'll ENJOY more leftovers as well!
1.) Don't use the microwave if you don't have to. A small non-stick frying pan is your new bestie.
2.) The oven or an air fryer are also your friends.
3.) Add moisture! Don't be afraid to grab a little soy sauce to throw over your Chinese food leftovers or water to add into your leftover rice or pasta. Adding in an extra sauce base to your food item is just another way to keep it fresh.
4.) Leftover potatoes or bread based items heat up well in the oven. If the item of food was crispy before then the oven can help crisp it up again. I usually just pre-heat it to 400 degrees and put whatever it is in the oven on a baking sheet for about 10 minutes.
5.) When using a frying pan to heat up the food, just give it a little oil to coat the bottom of the pan, turn on a medium heat, and cook till your desired color or temperature while stirring throughout.
I once watched Bobby Flay heat up a slice of leftover pizza in a frying pan and my life was changed. It didn't have that dry or rubbery texture. It still had flavor! I now re-heat most meals in the frying pan with a dash of olive oil or a small dab of butter.
After all of those tips here's my recipe for chicken Pad Thai using leftovers:
- Using a cup of the leftover Thai Slaw from my recipes- https://rosemaryangrace.blogspot.com/2019/01/crisp-thai-slaw.html
- 1/2 cup of a leftover protein (I had some grilled chicken I sliced into thin strips).
- 1 T Soy Sauce or teriyaki sauce, really both work. Just adding in more moisture.
- 1 tsp coconut oil.
-In a frying pan on medium heat, melt down coconut oil, and swirl around bottom of the pan.
-Add in your protein and heat on both sides for about 2 minutes just to give it a little color.
-Add in your cup of slaw and it should still have sauce of its own included. Toss it with the protein.
-Cook on medium heat stirring every minute or two for 5 minutes at the most. Once everything starts to steam it's all done.
-Finish with a dash of soy sauce and enjoy! I went a little extra and added some chopped peanuts on top.
←My leftover Thai Slaw turned Pad Thai.
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