Got a Bunch of Leftovers? Here's How I Put Them To Good Use!

Last night was leftover night. I don't mean leftovers from other meals, I mean having a mishmash of ingredients that we needed to make the most out of before they went bad. You see, Bryan and I usually cook during the week, leaving Friday and Saturday nights as our nights out on the town. Since we're headed to Rick Bayless' Red O (check out my original review here) tonight and Saban Free Clinic's Extravaganza for the Senses tomorrow, we needed to go through the leftover bits from our reverse pantry list. We had part of a French baguette, some leftover grilled chicken, buffalo mozzarella, mixed greens, goat cheese, thyme, garlic and a lemon. My immediate thought was to create a kick-butt baguette sandwich we could share, so I made spread out of the goat cheese, thyme, garlic and lemon (I threw in a little S&P for good measure), toasted the baguette, added a layer of sliced grilled chicken, topped that with the mozzarella, drizzled a bit of balsamic syrup, threw on some field greens and TA-DA! We had a serious sandwich. These are the best types of dinners; a great way to get creative with your remaining groceries and put your perishables to delicious use.

Our impromptu dinner: a sandwich made with all our leftover trimmings!

I don't have a recipe for this sandwich, but I did take a few photos as I was making it. The beauty of it is that you can add whatever you want to it. What's your favorite "leftover" meal to make? Have you ever created one that's now a staple in your kitchen?

Leftover baguette, sliced and toasted

Goat cheese, garlic, thyme and lemon zest made the spread

It melted into the crunchy baguette... mmm!

I reheated some leftover grilled chicken breasts

I sliced it and added it to the baguette

Threw in some sliced sweet onion for good measure!

I sliced buffalo mozzarella and added it to the chicken layer

Then I drizzled some balsamic reduction

Finally, I topped the layers with mixed greens and the remaining baguette slice. Dinnertime!