Leftovers
to the Rescue
The tick
got me! Despite ample warnings about their
proliferation this year because of our mild winter and careful inspection of
ones person when returning from the woods, somewhere during trimming of some
overgrown rhododendrons in our yard one managed to get its lunch, dinner and
breakfast at my expense. It unfortunately left as a tip a small infectious
microorganism that causes Lyme’s disease.
As anyone who has had the misfortune to get Lyme’s disease will tell
you, it is no picnic, especially during the summer, when friends and relatives
stream through your front door to admire the lovely Maine scenery.
The
antibiotics are wonderful in stopping the infection in a few weeks, but the
aftereffects linger on. With sapped
energy levels and swollen joints, everything seems to take at least twice as long.
You need to sit down after doing most anything, but - you still need to feed
everyone! So I have learned to be very economical with effort for cooking and
in the process have learned a thing or two that will actually be useful
otherwise. The secret weapon in this case is cooking more than enough for one
meal and using the leftovers (no it is not a dirty word) to create other tasty
meals with very little effort. Desert
is the easy part with summer meals, since melons and other summer fruit abound
and are perfect for a light finish to any meal.
Summer is
great for grilling and chicken, steak or even butterflied grilled pork
tenderloin paired with fresh corn and a salad will give a delicious meal with
little effort. The bonus comes with cooking extra that provide ready cooked
meat for at least one additional meal. Steak, sliced thin with a side of sour
cream, horseradish and chive sauce makes an excellent cold supper base paired
with my four bean summer casserole, which can be served hot or cold the second
day.
Grilled
cooked chicken of course provides endless possibilities for improvisation. My
recent tantalizing discovery was cumin and jalapeno flavored chicken wrapped in
a tortilla. For a cold supper I like my canellini or garbanzo bean chicken
salad.
Spicy
chicken tacos
Have
ready two cups of shredded grilled chicken. Sautè a thinly sliced medium onion
in 1 Tblsp. olive oil for 5 minutes, add ½ tsp. cumin seeds continuing to sautè
for 1 minute. Stir in 1 Tblsp. finely
chopped pickled jalapeno slices, the shredded chicken, ½ cup white wine or
chicken broth, 1 tsp. soy sauce. Heat through and sprinkle with 1Tblsp. chopped
parsley before folding in corn or flour tortillas.
These are
good with a cucumber salad dressed with sour cream, splash of rice vinegar,
dill, chives and salt and pepper.
Canellini
Chicken Salad with Feta
In a
bowl mix together 2 grilled skinless chicken breasts cubed, 2 cans drained and
rinsed canellini or garbanzo beans, ½ large red pepper cubed, 2 large scallions
with greens thinly sliced, 2 Tblsp. chopped flat leaf parsley, 2 tsp. chopped
capers, ½ tsp. toasted cumin seeds.
Toss with dressing: juice of 1 lemon, 3 Tblsp. sherry vinegar, 1 Tblsp.
white wine vinegar, ½ tsp. honey, salt, pepper, scant ¼ cup extra virgin olive
oil. Chill 3-4 hours, toss with 3 oz. crumbled Feta cheese and decorate with
halved grape tomatoes.
Cool and delicious meals with a minimum
expenditure of energy will be my motto for the rest of our unusually warm
summer.
(I. Winicov Harrington lives in Waldoboro and is the
author of “How to Eat Healthy and Well for Less than $5.00 a Day: the
Smart-Frugal Food Plan”; website: www.winicov-harrington.com)
Printed in the Lincoln County News –7/19/2012
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