How to Rechauffé your healthy leftovers.
Rechauffé means to warm up, heat up leftover food (in my own terms I would say to JAZZ UP leftovers) *winks*.
Rechauffé is an art of using leftovers; it is more than digging
into the fridge and mixing just any leftovers though. It requires more
planning.
The advantages include reducing waste, saving money and
it also saves lots of time.
Step 1: PLAN AHEAD. Say for instance, you have bought
and/or cooked more than what you would eat in one serving (which is usual or
expected, for example Chicken or meat) You can plan your next meal around the
excess. This is the principle behind rechauffé food, not taking
scraps off the plate.
Step 2: START WITH BASIC. With washed vegetable scraps that
are free of any dirt or mold such as peelings and ends can be used if they are
not of poor condition. For example-
·
Potato peelings can be seasoned with spices
and baked until crisp for a low fat snack.
·
Carrot, onion & celery trimmings can be
used in stocks.
Step 3: TO RECHAUFFE
VEGETABLES -
Should you have a range of fresh vegetables for steaming, sometimes it better
to steam the whole vegetable (like cauliflower & pumpkin) rather than have
raw leftovers that may rot or go stale. You can use the surplus the next day in different
ways.
·
For cauliflower, the surplus can be chilled
and reused in dishes such as cauliflower cheese, or marinated in vinegar and
spices and served in a salad, used in soups or pureed and reheated.
·
Potatoes can be grilled, roasted, used in
salads, soups or mashed.
·
Cabbage can be marinated in salt &
vinegar and reused in salads.
·
Pumpkin can be used in scones, breads, soups etc.
·
Carrots can be reheated and served with
honey.
·
Blanched Green beans can be sautéed quickly in a pan with a little hot coconut
oil, chili or soy sauce, or some fresh chopped herbs. Or served cold in salads.
Step 4:
Cooking like this means that you don't have surplus raw ingredients and
you can reheat or serve a different way to save time.
With surplus boiled eggs, use
them in sandwiches, curried eggs or in salads.
With surplus roast, grilled,
poached or steamed meat, it can be used in sandwiches, salads, curries, braises, Bolognese sauces,
casseroles, soups etc
Ofada or Brown Rice as well
as Bulgur can be easily reheated or used in fried
rice, Wheat pasta can be used hot or cold in
salads.
Surplus breads can be used
for breadcrumbs in a food processor.
Fruits can be cut raw for fruit salads or stewed. Surplus stewed fruits can be with oatmeal.
Stocks and sauces can be used
as a foundation of other sauces, soups or stews.
Planning in advance on ways to use
surplus food and reduce waste is the whole goal.
Follow me on instagram @bukikolade
