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Health & Fitness

Making the Most of Thanksgiving Leftovers

Delectable ideas for leftovers from a Patch blogger.

Here's some ideas to turn your Thanksgiving leftovers into fabulous meals. 

Make your favorite chili without the meat.  During the last 15 minutes of cooking add cubed pieces of turkey dark meat.

Stuffing patties? Brown about 1/3 cup sausage stuffing in a pan.  You can make it into a patty if you wish.  Top with 1 egg, cooked, over easy and have a great breakfast or brunch.

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Do a Thanksgiving wrap. Throw the leftovers in a wrap, turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce for a Thanksgiving redo.

Make a curried turkey salad with apples, dried cranberries, nuts, celery, sliced snap peas.  For the dressing: (the dry toasting of the curry powder is the most important step) dry toast* 1 tsp curry powder until fragrant, add to 1/2 cup mayo and 1 T honey mustard.  Mix to combine. You can also substitute the turkey for chicken in your favorite chicken salad recipe.

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Make soup from the carcass and leftover drippings and veggies in the pan. 
Cook the bones, drippings, veggies together with 1 qt chicken stock and enough water to cover. 

Veggies that should be included are carrots, onions, celery and leeks, especially the dark green part that can't be used for anything else. (Use the white and light green parts in the recipe below.) Simmer for about 3 hours than strain, discarding all the solids. 

You can now use the broth to make a noodle soup, vegetable soup or try my bean soup recipe:

 

Hill of Beans Soup

  • 1 lb mixed beans
  • 2 T oil
  • 2 leeks, white & light green parts, washed well & chopped
  • 2 carrots, chopped
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 1/2 tsp @ pepper, rosemary, sage, thyme, savory
  • 1/4 tsp 5 spice powder OR allspice
  • 6 - 8 C turkey or chicken stock
  • salt and pepper to taste

 

— Additions: leftover turkey, green bean casserole, butternut squash cubes

— Accompaniments: sour cream, Greek yogurt, corn muffins

— Rinse the beans. Cover with boiling water & soak for a couple hours. Drain.  Sauté the leeks & carrots in the oil until tender & they start to brown.

— Add drained beans, stock, & seasoning. Simmer for 2 hours or until the beans are very tender adding more stock or water if necessary if it gets too thick. Put in any raw additions at their appropriate cooking time.

— Add your cooked additions during last 10 minutes of cooking. Season with the salt & pepper. Serve with your choice of accompaniments.

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