After summer events, my fridge is often littered with containers full of bean, quinoa, and rice salads. Let these sides take center stage as quesadilla filling! Quesadillas are perfect for a quick lunch or dinner.
LEFTOVER BUNS & BREAD? MAKE BREADCRUMBS.
After a cook-out, I have way more burger buns than a single vegetarian can ever hope to use. I don't mind keeping a bag in the freezer for the occasional veggie burger, but I don't have the space for much more than that. So, this year, as I was breading my zucchini, I thought, "Why not make that extra bread into breadcrumbs?" You can use any sort of buns or bread, store bought or artisanal, stale or fresh. Failed attempts at baking bread work too! Before it ends up in the compost bin, try this...
LEFTOVER PICNIC SALADS: THE PERFECT BASE FOR SOUPS & CHILIS
Summer picnics and parties leave the fridge full of leftovers, and after a couple days, you're done eating that caprese pasta salad. Give these side dishes a second life as soup or chili. While mayonnaise heavy pasta and potato salads won't work, Mexican, Greek, and Italian inspired quinoa, pasta, and rice salads are perfect.
FREEZE SOUP LEFTOVERS
Soups and stews are perfect for freezing! Throughout winter I always have 1 or 2 varieties on-hand. Throw a couple frozen pucks in a big bowl, pair with bread and cheese, and you got a no fuss weekday dinner. In cold weather, when fresh salad greens are at a premium, serve a cup of low calorie soup before a heavy dish to lighten your overall meal.
the method
MUFFIN TIN: A 6-cup jumbo muffin tin works best for this. Ladle the soup among the cups. Fill them about 3/4 full.
Freezer ready!
FREEZE: Put in freezer overnight or until completely frozen.
REMOVE: Flip tin upside down onto cutting board and run hot water over the bottom of tin cups. Frozen soup pucks will start to dislodge from the pan. You can lightly twist the pan or press on the bottoms to help the pucks release.
Run hot water over tin bottom to loosen frozen pucks.
Frozen soup pucks ready to be bagged.
BAG AND FREEZE: If desired, label and date your freezer bag. Toss your frozen pucks in and freeze until needed.
Date and label freezer bag and toss in the freezer.
REHEAT: One puck is perfect for a cup of soup and will fit into a small 5 oz bowl. For a meal, 2-3 pucks will fit into a soup bowl. Just microwave for a few minutes, stir, and repeat until the soup is hot.
Frozen soup puck in 5 oz bowl. Ready for the microwave.