{Leftovers} Thanksgiving Roasted Vegetables

We hosted Thanksgiving this year, and even though we did a potluck style dinner, we still have a fridge FULL of leftovers. I have big plans for our turkey that were not difficult to figure out(creamy rice soup, sandwiches, and lots of pot pies for the freezer!). Other items have left me a bit stumped (how much mashed potatoes can one person really eat?).

One item staring me in the face is the GIANT batch of roasted vegetables I made. We have roasted veggies very frequently, so for the special holiday I tried a new recipe to spice things up a bit. Unfortunately, they came out pretty boring. Not terrible, but nothing compared to my usual, simple, olive oil and kosher salt. So, now I have a big ‘ol bowl of colorful, local Kilpatrick Family Farm veggies in the fridge that I will NOT let go to waste. They look beautiful, but they’re pretty pathetic on flavor…

I plan to modify some of my usual roasted veggie favorites to use my leftovers. The first is one of our almost-weekly dinners, Rainbow Salad. The original, non-leftovers, recipe is on my personal food blog, Lainey’s Plate. For my modified version, just take the leftover veggies (any veggies can work here–try it!), reheat, and stir in enough of this sauce to coat them liberally (whisk all ingredients together):

1/4 c. rice wine vinegar

1/2 c. sesame oil

1/4 c. vegetable oil

3/4 c. soy sauce

2 tbsp. honey

2 tsp. dijon mustard

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2″ ginger, minced

Reserve some sauce on the side to add to individual portions. Serve veggies over rice, lo mein noodles, soba noodles, or even pasta. This dish is good served warm or cold.

The second recipe is based on this recipe from Mixing Bowl Kids. The veggies get tossed in a quick-to-fix honey mustard sauce, and are served over pasta. I use equal parts of honey, dijon mustard, and canola oil (I did about 4 Tbsp of each, in order to have extra sauce for serving)–whisk together until combined. Mix in a generous amount (I used 1 Tbsp) of dried thyme, and salt to taste. Stir in a splash of lemon juice. Put leftover veggies on a baking sheet, stir in enough sauce to coat them well, and reheat in the oven at 350° until warmed through. Serve over pasta, with a few spoonfuls of reserved sauce drizzled over the top.

My sister (who had the original batch of veggies on Thanksgiving) had this for lunch with me today, and she reported that I “gave these vegetables a new life!” Success!

Do you have any leftover ideas with roasted vegetables? We are always making roasted veggies and could always use new ways to use them up!

5 Comments Add yours

Dianna Goodwin says:

12/04/2010 at 6:19 pm

Thanks for these ideas. This year we had lots of left over mashed potatoes, which I formed into potato pancake sized patties, dusted with flour mixed with a little salt and pepper, and cooked in a little olive oil in a heavy skillet for 15 minutes on a side to make a slightly caramelized outside and a warm, fluffy inside. My kids loved them. I also made a frittata from left over stuffing, soaked around 4 cups of stuffing in about 6 eggs, heated some oil in a cast iron pan, when hot poured it in, cooked for 10 minutes so the bottom set, then baked for 20 minutes at 350 with some parmesan sprinkled on top. Gobbled up.

Leslie says:

12/04/2010 at 6:30 pm

Ooh, Dianna, that fritatta sounds amazing. I have been thinking lately that stuffing is so incredible, it’s silly that I only make it for Thanksgiving…I think I’llt ry this!!

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Dianna Goodwin says:

12/05/2010 at 7:10 am

It was surprisingly good. And I think I added about 3/4 cup of water to the eggs too, since two day old stuffing starts to desiccate.

Christina says:

12/06/2010 at 8:08 am

First off, thank you Leslie for giving me great ideas for my leftover veggies. Seriously, they just languish in the frig and get reheated as is…boring.

Dianna, why have I never thought of putting stuffing in a frittata? perfection.