Sep 10

Sep 10 Culinary Collaborations 10: Leftover Meals

Leftovers are such an easy lunch but not all meals provide leftovers, or good ones at least. I’ve pulled out 3 meals that you can make and have a delicious lunch the next day!

If you are a meal prepper, you could make all 3 of these meals 1 day and have lunch and dinner (6 meals, 12 total servings) done for the week.

CC10 Meals

The original recipes are linked above but I have made a few modifications to streamline the grocery list and increase servings.

Grocery list and recipes are written below for 4 servings. This way you can have 2 servings for dinner and 2 for lunch leftovers. Double if you have a family of 4.

Pantry Items

Cumin
Salt
Sea salt
Pepper
Paprika
Oregano
Olive oil
Hot curry powder
Turmeric powder
Ground ginger
Cayenne pepper

Grocery List

Produce:

4 Romaine hearts
1 pkg Cherry tomatoes
2 medium Cucumbers
Fresh Dill
2 lemons
1 bulb Garlic or pre-minced garlic
1 medium sweet onion, diced
1 lime, juiced
5 cups packed spinach
Cilantro
1 bunch green onions
2 avocados (optional garnish)

Canned /Grain

Quinoa
2 cups broth
3 cans Garbanzo/chickpeas beans
1 can artichoke hearts
2 can petite diced tomatoes
2 can full fat coconut milk
20 street taco shells (white corn)
2 large can green enchilada sauce (1 3/4 cup total)

Cheese / Bread / Dairy

Greek Yogurt (1 cup)
Jasmine Rice
Cheddar Cheese (2 cups)

Meat / Eggs

1 pound ground lamb or beef
24 chicken thighs (usually 2 large packages)

Prep Options

All meals can be prepped in advance, divided into 4 servings and saved.
Cook and shred chicken thighs
Cook 2/3 cup quinoa
Cook 1 cup jasmine rice
Mix Tzatziki sauce

Order / Notes

I like to split up proteins so I would put the gyro meatballs in between the two chicken meals: Chicken Enchiladas, then Gyro, then Curry.
The Curry meal will use any extra chickpeas from the gyro meatball recipe

Chicken Prep

As two recipes have A LOT of chicken, I recommend cooking it together and in advance.

Get a very large stockpot filled with ½ broth and ½ water to half way full. If you don’t have this much extra broth, you can just use water. Bring to a boil. Add the chicken thighs, making sure they are all submersed in water and not too packed in. I like to trim extra fat from the thighs as I add them to the water but that can be dealt with later. Add extra/remove water based on how it looks.

Cover and keep at a simmer, stirring periodically, until all are cooked. About 45-60 min.

Drain water and shred the chicken using a stand mixer, hand mixer, or forks. Divide shredded chicken in half – half for curry, half for enchiladas. Remove any large chunks of fat.

Chicken Enchilada Casserole

Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Slice 20 white corn tortillas in half and layout on 2 baking sheets. Spray or baste with olive oil lightly.
Cook tortillas for 6 minutes, flip and cook for an additional 5-8 minutes until brown and crisp
Finely chop 1 bunch of green onion, ½ cup cilantro, and 2 cups spinach
Take half of the precooked shredded chicken, discarding any big fat clumps.
Mix shredded chicken with green onion, cilantro, spinach, 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper, 2 tsp cumin, 2 cups enchilada sauce and 1cup cheddar cheese.
Turn down oven to 375
In 2 13x9 glass dish, spread out 1/4 cup sauce in each (1/2 cup total), then create a single layer with the crisp tortilla shells on the bottom of both dishes (about half of the shells)
Evenly distribute the chicken mixture
Using the remaining tortilla shells, cover the top of the casseroles. Pour over the remaining sauce and top with the remaining cheese.
Bake at 375 for 20 minutes
Divide into 4 servings
Optional toppings: cilantro, avocado, fresh tomatoes

Gyro Meatball Salad

Cook 2/3 cup quinoa in 1 cup broth according to directions
Drain and rinse beans. Remove skin from the 2/3 cup garbanzo beans and mash with a fork. Save any remaining beans for the curry.
Mix 2/3 cup beans with 1 lb ground meat, 2 tsp minced garlic, 2 tsp cumin, ½ tsp salt, 1/2 tsp paprika, and 1 tsp oregano
Using a cookie scoop, dish out the meat, making 20 meatballs. Roll each until a tight ball and chill in the fridge until cooking
Chop all but half of 1/3 cucumber
Slice 30 tomatoes and 6 artichoke hearts
Mix tomatoes, cucumber and artichoke hearts. Set aside
Mix together the ingredients for the tzatziki sauce: 1 cup Greek yogurt, 1 TBS fresh dill, 2 TBS fresh lemon juice, 1 tsp minced garlic, ¼ cup grated cucumber, 2 TBS olive oil, 1 tsp sea salt, ½ tsp pepper (water to thin if needed)
Heat 1 tsp of oil in a skillet over medium heat
Add meatballs, cook 4 minutes, flip, cooking another 2, and rotate to any pink spots to fully cook for another 2-4 minutes. (Try to touch as little as possible at the beginning to ensure the meatballs stay together)
Chop 4 romaine hearts.
Split all items between 4 servings.

For storing: Meatballs, chopped romaine, and tzatziki should all be stored separated. Tomato, artichoke, and chopped cucumber may be combined for storage.

Chickpea Chicken Curry

Prep: dice 1 sweet onion, drain and rinse 1 can chickpeas and combine with any extra from the gyro salad, and chop 3 cups packed spinach
Cook diced onion in 1 TBS olive oil in a stock pot or dutch oven (this will be a lot of food in 1 dish) over medium heat for around 8 minutes
Turn heat down to low and add 2 tsp minced garlic, 2 tsp hot curry powder, ½ tsp turmeric, and 1 tsp ground ginger and toast for 3 minutes
Add chickpeas and turn heat back up to medium (5 on a 1-10 burner scale)
Stir to coat the chickpeas
Add 2 cans diced tomatoes and 2 cans full fat coconut milk
Bring to a simmer
Add 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp pepper, and 1 tsp hot curry powder (add extra if you like it real hot)
Cover and simmer on low for 20 minutes
Cook 1 cup jasmine rice with 1 ½ cups water or broth, bring to a boil, turn down to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes.
Add ½ of the cooked shredded chicken thighs we prepped for both chicken meals and stir, cooking for 5 minutes to ensure it warms up.
Add spinach and cook for additional 5 minutes
Add 1 lime juiced, stir and remove from heat
Split into 4 servings, top with cilantro, and serve with Jasmine rice