Creamy roast turkey wild rice soup

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If you end up with leftover roast turkey this week (and I know many of us will), try this hearty, creamy turkey wild rice soup. The wild rice gives the broth a uniquely nutty flavor, and the root vegetables make the whole thing aromatic and sweet. I used a combination of carrots, kohlrabi and potato, but turnips or rutabaga would be nice here too. This is one of those situations where the soup made of leftovers is almost better than the roast turkey you started with.

This is the first time I've cooked with wild rice, by the way. A friend from out of town brought me two big bags collected in the midwest, up near the Canadian border I think (Wisconsin? Minnesota? Not sure). It had been sitting in my pantry for too long. Fortunately, it aged well.

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Creamy turkey wild rice soup

by Erika Kerekes December-26-2012

Leftover turkey stars in this hearty soup. Wild rice gives the broth a uniquely nutty flavor. If you have homemade turkey stock made from your turkey carcass, use it; if not, prepared chicken stock will do.

Ingredients

• 4 Tablespoons butter
• 3 ribs celery, diced
• 3 large carrots, peeled and diced
• 3 medium kohlrabi (substitute 1 turnip or 1 rutabaga), peeled and diced
• 1 large or 2 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
• 1 large onion, diced
• 4 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 quarts homemade turkey stock or chicken stock
• 1 1/2 cups wild rice
• 4 cups leftover roast turkey, cut into 1-inch cubes
• salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Instructions

In a large pot, heat the butter over medium-high heat until it melts and the foam subsides. Add the celery, carrots, kohlrabi, potatoes, and onions, and saute until the vegetables start to soften, about 7 minutes. Sprinkle the flour over the vegetables and cook, stirring, about 3 minutes - this will get rid of the raw flour taste.Add the turkey or chicken stock and the wild rice. Bring the soup to a boil, turn down the heat, cover the pot, and simmer the soup until the wild rice is tender and the grains are starting to burst, about 1 1/2 hours. (The exact time will depend on how fresh your wild rice is - the older it is, the longer it takes to cook.)When the wild rice is cooked, add the roast turkey to the soup and let it simmer until the turkey is warmed through. Taste and add salt and pepper as necessary. The saltier your stock was, the less salt you'll need (but you'll definitely need some). Serve very hot.Note: This soup gets better with a few days in the refrigerator, so feel free to make it a day or two ahead.

Details

Prep time: 20 mins Cook time: 2 hour Total time: 2 hour 20 mins Yield: 10 servings

Easy quinoa fritters {gluten-free}

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I was not planning to make quinoa fritters for dinner. They were sort of an accident.

You see, yesterday I cooked quinoa for the first time. I know, I know - you think I'm nuts. Quinoa is one of the most fashionable grains of the 21st century. So sue me - I had a few bad quinoa experiences and was convinced I didn't like it.

But when I saw organic quinoa at Costco, I thought I'd give it one more try. And I'm glad I did. Because, in fact, I do like quinoa. I especially like the quinoa salad I made yesterday, where I dressed the warm quinoa with mustard, lemon juice and olive oil, and then added green onions, pomegranate arils, feta cheese and chopped toasted pecans. (Recipe coming soon, I promise.)

So the accidental fritters? Well, I made too much quinoa and needed to find another quinoa outlet. I decided to mix the quinoa with eggs, green onions, diced red bell peppers, and a bit of cheese and fry them in patties - very similar to the leftover rice pancakes I make from time to time.

I made these quinoa fritters for dinner tonight and my boys just inhaled them. I was hoping to have a few pancakes left over to pack in their lunches tomorrow. Not so much. They are really, really good. The quinoa gets very crispy and crunchy, and the overall texture of the pancakes stays very light. I highly recommend them.

One of my Facebook friends suggests that these quinoa fritters would work well for Hanukkah when you get sick of potato latkes (if that's even possible). And, by the way, these fritters are absolutely gluten-free.

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Easy quinoa fritters

by Erika Kerekes November-29-2012

Mix leftover cooked quinoa with eggs, vegetables and a bit of cheese and fry the mixture in olive oil, and you've got quinoa fritters - an excellent gluten-free side dish your family will love.

Ingredients

• 2 cups cooked quinoa
• 2 eggs eggs
• 3-4 green onions, chopped
• 1/2 red bell pepper, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup mozzarella or Monterey jack cheese, shredded
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan or Grana Padano cheese
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 4 Tablespoons olive oil, or more as needed for frying

Instructions

Mix the quinoa, eggs, green onions, bell pepper, and both cheeses in a large bowl until the mixture is thoroughly combined.Heat a large nonstick or cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat.Add 1 Tablespoon of olive oil to the pan and swirl to coat. Drop heaping tablespoons of the quinoa mixture into the hot pan; leave space between the fritters. Fry until golden brown, about 2 minutes on each side. Drain on a rack set over a sheet pan or on a plate lined with paper towels. Cook the rest of the fritters in batches, keeping the finished fritters warm in a low oven (200 degrees) if desired. Serve hot.

Details

Prep time: 10 mins Cook time: 20 mins Total time: 30 mins Yield: about 12 fritters

Leftover turkey salad with dill and pomegranate

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Leftover roast turkey salad with lots of celery, fresh dill and pomegranate

I always make extra turkey for Thanksgiving. It's partly because I like leftover turkey (who doesn't?). But it's also because of the Thanksgiving Orphans.

There's nothing I hate more than hearing that a friend or acquaintance spent a holiday alone because he or she had nowhere to go. When I first moved to Los Angeles, I spent several holidays this way, and it was the most depressing experience I'd ever had. Which is why I now open my home to "orphans" whenever the holidays happen at my house. (We alternate years with my husband's family.)

I never seem to know until the last minute how many people will take me up on my offer, so I always order a big turkey and an extra turkey breast. Just in case, you know, a whole family of orphans turns up.

There are lots of ways to use leftover turkey - in soups, sandwiches, casseroles. But yesterday I was looking for something lighter and a little green. That's how this turkey salad with dill and pomegranate was born. The crunch of the celery and pomegranate arils cuts the richness of the turkey and mayonnaise-based dressing. And the fresh dill (plenty of it) wakes up the salad in a way only a fresh herb can do.

Note: The folks at POM Wonderful sent me a case of gorgeous fresh pomegranates (including the one used in this recipe) after I joined them on a tour of their San Joaquin Valley orchards and processing facilities. More on that soon; meantime, it's fresh pomegranate season, so look for their eye-catching displays at your local grocery store.

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Leftover turkey salad with fresh dill and pomegranate

by Erika Kerekes November-25-2012

This light salad will make short work of your leftover roast turkey from Thanksgiving or Christmas. Don't skimp on the fresh dill.

Ingredients

• 4 cups leftover roast turkey, pulled into shreds or small chunks by hand
• 6 large stalks fresh celery, chopped
• 6 green onions, chopped
• 1 cup fresh dill, chopped (fronds from 1 large bunch)
• 1 1/2 cups pomegranate arils (seeds)
• 2/3 cup mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup Dijon mustard
• 1 large lemon (juice and zest)
• freshly ground pepper
• sea salt to taste (optional)

Instructions

To a large bowl, add the shredded turkey, celery, green onions, fresh dill, and pomegranate arils. In a smaller bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, mustard, lemon juice, lemon zest, and a good dose of freshly ground pepper. Pour the mayonnaise mixture over the ingredients in the large bowl and stir gently to combine. Taste and add salt if needed (it will depend on how salty your roast turkey was). Serve chilled.

Details

Prep time: 15 mins Cook time: 5 mins Total time: 20 mins Yield: 8-10 servings

15 ways to use empty glass jars for October Unprocessed

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I chose the most visible place I could find for my October Unprocessed sticker - my handbag!

This year, for the first time, I decided to take the Eating Rules October Unprocessed challenge. No processed foods for a month. I haven't been perfect, but I've definitely been more aware of what's in the food I put in my mouth. And that's really the point.

Along with all the great recipes and food essays, the October Unprocessed series includes a "tips and tricks" track. My guest post listing 15 ways to use empty glass jars is up now - please do click over and take a look!

Cheesy rice casserole

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I do not like to see food go to waste. If there's a scrap of cheese, a cup of dried-out rice, a wilting vegetable, I'll find a way to turn it into dinner.

Some people call me the Queen of Leftovers.

That's how this cheesy rice casserole was born. There's nothing magical about it. It's a simple formula. Look in your refrigerator for stragglers in these categories:

• Grain (e.g. rice, pasta, quinoa)
• Cheese (any kind will do, or mix several kinds)
• Vegetable (e.g. zucchini, carrots, cooked mushrooms, cooked greens)
• Strong herbs (e.g. parsley, chives, green onions)

Mix them together. Add a little liquid - chicken or vegetable stock, leftover cream of anything soup, canned cream of mushroom soup if that sort of thing doesn't bother you. And bake. What you get is much more than the sum of its parts: a warm, cheesy, comforting casserole with enough vegetables to make you feel virtuous.

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Cheesy rice casserole

by Erika Kerekes December-27-2011

Bake leftover rice, shredded veggies, grated cheese and herbs together and you end up with a warm, cheesy casserole that's way more than the sum of its parts. Use the same formula (grain, cheese, vegetable, herbs) with whatever ingredients happen to be left over in your own refrigerator.

Ingredients

• 2 cups leftover cooked rice (white or brown)
• 2 cups raw zucchini or carrot, grated (substitute cooked mushrooms, cooked greens, etc.)
• 1 cup grated cheese (any variety)
• 1 cup green onions, chopped
• 1/2 cup chicken or vegetable stock
• salt and freshly ground pepper

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9x13 casserole dish with nonstick cooking spray.In a large bowl, mix together all ingredients. Turn the mixture into the casserole dish and smooth the top. Bake about 45 minutes, until the top is golden brown. Serve immediately.

Details

Prep time: 15 mins Cook time: 45 mins Total time: 1 hour Yield: 8 servings

Leftover turkey tostadas with avocado crema

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It's only mid-October and I'm already thinking about turkey. That's because I hate Halloween. I know hating Halloween is a cardinal sin of parenting, but I dread the costume stress, can't stand the cutesy orange and black cupcakes and cookies, and fear the buckets of leftover candy (or, rather, my lack of willpower when faced therewith).

So I'm skipping Halloween and going straight to the day after Thanksgiving. When you're knee-deep in leftover turkey and can't face another plate of cranberries and stuffing, make these tostadas for lunch. It's a simple combination: savory turkey, melted cheese, corn tortillas gone crisp in the oven, and a smooth avocado crema as decoration. I made two per person, but I could have made twice as many and they would still have disappeared.

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Leftover turkey tostadas with avocado crema

by Erika Kerekes October-20-2011

Leftover turkey takes a Mexican twist in these simple tostadas. Use any leftover avocado crema as a sandwich spread.

Ingredients

• 1 medium avocado
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 8 corn tortillas
• 2-3 cups leftover Thanksgiving turkey meat (light or dark), diced or torn into small pieces
• 1 1/2 cups Mexican cheese blend or Monterey jack, shredded

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.Cut the avocado in half, remove the pit, and scoop the flesh into your blender or mini-chopper. Add the lemon juice and salt. Puree until very smooth. Put the avocado crema into a squeeze bottle or a zip-top bag (cut a tiny piece off one corner if using a bag).Lay the tortillas on the baking sheet. Divide the turkey meat and then the cheese evenly among the tortillas. Put the baking pan in the hot oven for 8-10 minutes, until the cheese is melted and bubbly and the tortillas are crisp and brown around the edges.Drizzle the avocado crema over the warm tostadas. Serve immediately.

Details

Prep time: 10 mins Cook time: 10 mins Total time: 20 mins Yield: 8 tostadas

Zucchini rice casserole

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I was lamenting on the In Erika's Kitchen Facebook page the other day that I can't seem to take a good casserole picture. I finally figured out the two main problems.

The first is a timing issue. In general, I make casseroles for dinner. How much natural light do I get in my kitchen at dinnertime? Not much. Are the overhead lights a necessity? Yep. So my photos end up like the one above: dark and yellow, with weird bright reflective spots. I can Photoshop with the best of them, but I can't do much with pictures like this.

The second is a texture issue. Casseroles mostly look like mush, with few distinct ingredients. Also, notice the similarity between the texture of the zucchini rice casserole above and the granite countertop on which it's sitting. Not much contrast.

I'd like to think that there's a third issue involving ugly baking pans, requiring me to buy some beautiful new casserole dishes, but alas, I don't think that's actually part of the problem.

This is one of the best recipes I know for using up leftover cooked rice. I mix it in a big bowl with shredded zucchini, chopped green onions, grated cheese and some kind of cream sauce for a binder.

Yes, sometimes I go for the canned cream of mushroom or cream of chicken stuff. So sue me. When I have time (or I'm out of the cans) I prefer to take a few minutes to make a roux and add some milk, season it with salt and pepper, and use that to bind the casserole. Bake for about 45 minutes and you've got a warm, cheesy, salty, vegetable-filled dish that everyone will love. Even if the pictures look like crap.

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Zucchini rice casserole

by Erika Kerekes October-13-2011

This is the perfect way to use up leftover cooked rice. Use any cheese you like - I often grate up odds and ends and mix them up for this casserole.

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp butter
• 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
• 2 cups milk
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 cups leftover cooked rice (white or brown)
• 1 pound zucchini, grated (2 large or 5 small)
• 1 1/2 cups grated cheese (any kind - try cheddar, Gruyere, smoked Gouda, mozzarella, etc.)
• 1 bunch green onions, chopped

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a medium-sized casserole dish with cooking spray.Melt the butter in a saucepan. Add the flour and stir 1 minute to make a paste. Add the milk, whisking constantly, and bring to a simmer. The mixture will thicken as it heats up. Remove it from the heat, season with salt and pepper, and set it aside to cool a bit.In a large bowl, mix together the rice, zucchini, grated cheese and green onions. Add the cream sauce and stir to combine. Turn the mixture into the prepared baking dish. Bake the casserole for about 45 minutes; the edges should be bubbling and the top golden brown. Serve hot.

Details

Prep time: 10 mins Cook time: 45 mins Total time: 55 mins Yield: 8 servings

Salmon salad with dill

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Leftover fish doesn't last long in my kitchen. Mixed with mayonnaise and adulterated with herbs and lemon, cold fish salad makes a perfect midnight snack. Emery, my 12-year-old, loves it in his lunchbox - ah, the joys of packing lunch for my little gourmand! He claimed today that he was still tasting dill at dismissal, a full three hours after he ate his sandwich. Here's hoping dill and parsley have something in common (I'm thinking about fish breath)....

Pickled eggs

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Hot Dog Boy, also known as my younger son, is in a pickle phase. Luckily, Costco sells huge jars of those adorable tiny dill pickles - they're so small I really want to call them "picklets." We're going through them at a respectable clip these days, and last week we finished up a jar. I was about to spill out the brine but my husband stopped me. "Let's pickle some eggs," he said.

Sweets from Gourmandise Desserts

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Now this is the kind of status update you want to see on Facebook when you get home from work: 

PLEASE come over and take the ridiculous number of cupcakes, palmiers, macarons, petits fours, chocolates and cookies left over from our photo shoot out of our house asap!! Text me for the address...

My friend Clemence Gossett, who owns Gourmandise Desserts and is about to open The Gourmandise School of Sweets and Savories in Santa Monica, has photo shoots twice a year for her website. These lovely treats were the models. And once the photos were taken, the models were cast aside. No hesitation on my part - I got back in the car and hightailed it over to Clemence's house.

Roughly clockwise from the top left corner: oatmeal bread, red velvet cupcake, flourless chocolate cake, petits fours (which my husband called "epochal"), chocolate-covered bacon, cream puff, mini-palmiers, banana caramel cupcake, chocolate cupcake, and pistachio toffee (in the middle).

Are you jealous?

Leftover pasta frittata, finger food for your Super Bowl party

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Still looking for Super Bowl recipes? There's nothing better for a party than a simple pasta frittata.

It's essentially a pancake made out of leftover cooked pasta, sauce and all. You mix the leftover pasta (any shape) with eggs and cheese, then fry the whole mess up in a hot pan. Brave souls will try to flip it using the upside-down plate trick - I used to do it - but lazy bums like me stick the whole thing under the broiler for a few minutes to cook the top. Cut it into wedges, serve hot or warm or cold, eat with fingers. This is a-one party food, picnic food, and especially midnight snack food (trust me on this one).

Spaghetti frittata with wild mushrooms and bacon

Pasta pancake (frittata)

• 4 cups leftover pasta, with sauce and add-ins
• 6 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan or romano cheese
• Salt and pepper
• Anything else you think might work: crumbled bacon, diced cooked chicken, leftover cooked vegetables, capers, chopped anchovies, a few sun-dried tomatoes....
• 2 Tbsp olive oil

Preheat the broiler on high with the rack on the second-highest shelf.

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl. Heat an ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Swirl in the olive oil, then dump in the pasta-egg mixture. As it sets, lift up the edges with a spatula so more of the egg can run underneath.

When the bottom is set and browned, put the skillet under the broiler. Check it after three minutes to make sure it's not burning. I usually leave it in about five minutes, but it will burn easily, depending on the strength of your broiler.

When the top is golden brown, remove the pan from the oven and let the frittata sit in the pan for about 10 minutes. The residual heat will cook the egg all the way through, if it hasn't already, and letting it cool will allow it to set up a bit before you take it out and cut it.

After a little bit, slide the frittata onto a board. Cut into wedges and serve.

Cranberry sauce oatmeal bars

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I have a quantity problem in general. When it's just my immediate family, I end up with enough for two dinners and three lunchboxes. When I'm having 10 people for dinner, I make enough for 20. When 20 people are coming for Thanksgiving, I cook for the whole neighborhood. It's not that I don't like leftovers - I do, and I have many tricks for disguising and repurposing them. It's just that the overcooking is so...involuntary. Just once I'd like to make exactly the right amount. Once.

Anyway, after Thanksgiving I always end up with extra cranberry sauce. But that's not a bad thing. Because I've discovered cranberry oatmeal bars.

I've tried cranberry bars with a shortbread crust and crumble topping, but I prefer this version. It's more wholesome and has more texture. It doesn't hold together particularly well, so I served it right from the pan. If you're going to cut them ahead of time, keep the platter in the refrigerator until you're ready to put it out - that should help the bars keep their shape.

Normally I use regular five-minute rolled oats, but I happened to have a bag of Coach's Oats from Costco. The bag says "Cracked 'n Toasted Oats - Hearty steel cut texture in 5 minutes!" It looks a lot more like wheat germ than like rolled oats. I'd like to try these bars again with standard rolled oats, but the Coach's Oats did give the bars an interesting texture.

Cranberry oatmeal bars

• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup uncooked oats
• 2/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1 cup whole cranberry sauce

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, oats, brown sugar, baking powder and melted butter with a fork until crumbly. Press about 2/3 of the mixture into an 8-inch square baking pan, covering the bottom and about 1/2 inch up the sides.Spread the cranberry sauce over the crust in the pan. Sprinkle with the reserved crumbs.

Bake 20-30 minutes or until top is golden brown. Cool completely before cutting.

Spiced sweet potato soup

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There's nothing like soup for using up leftovers. In fact, now that I think about it, I made this soup entirely out of Thanksgiving leftovers. Hooray for frugality.

(Don't worry, you don't need to cook Thanksgiving dinner just to make this soup. There's another way.)

I don't like my sweet potatoes sweet, so I roast them with garlic, chili powder and lime (here's the recipe). You can just add those flavors to your soup if you don't want to take the trouble to roast the sweet potatoes first. Also note that there's no peeling involved. Sweet potato skins are tasty and healthy - lots of fiber! And once you blend up the soup, you won't even notice them.

Spiced sweet potato soup - leftovers method

• Leftover roasted spiced sweet potatoes
• Chicken or turkey stock, enough to cover the potatoes

Bring sweet potatoes and stock to a boil in a pot. Turn down the heat and simmer about 10 minutes (remember, the sweet potatoes are already cooked). Puree in the pot with an immersion blender, or in a countertop blender in batches. Taste and add salt if necessary. Serve hot.

Spiced sweet potato soup - from scratch method

• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1 large onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 3-4 sweet potatoes, unpeeled, cut into chunks
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 6 cups chicken stock
• juice of 2 limes
• salt and pepper to taste

Heat the oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion and saute about 6 minutes, until the onion is starting to brown and caramelize in spots. Add the garlic and cook another minute. Now add the sweet potatoes and chili powder and continue to saute about 5 minutes. Turn up the heat a little if you need to - you want the sweet potatoes to start to caramelize around the edges to simulate that roasted flavor you get from a hot oven.

Add the chicken stock and lime juice and bring the mixture to a boil, then turn down the heat and simmer about 30 minutes, until the sweet potatoes are very soft. Puree until smooth in the pot with an immersion blender, or puree in batches in a countertop blender. Taste and correct the seasonings with salt and pepper (if your chili powder or stock is salty, you may not need much). Serve hot.

Recipe: Chicken salad with tarragon, in two parts

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Part One

"I think I'll make chicken salad tonight," I said, thinking about the roasted chicken with smoked paprika left over from a dinner party a few days earlier. We were driving up toward Lancaster to see the California golden poppies in bloom, a spectacular display of orange hillsides in the otherwise barren high desert.

"Mmm, chicken salad," said Michael, eyes on the road, hands on the wheel.

"With tarragon?" said 11-year-old Emery from the back seat.

"Yes."

"Lots of tarragon?" he pressed. "Because I really like your chicken salad when it has lots and lots of tarragon."

Sigh. "Yes." In my head: Sorry, future wife. Feeding this one will be a challenge. Good thing he likes to cook.

"Tarragon chicken salad! Tarragon chicken salad!" sang the happy, bouncing tweenage boy in the back. And on we went to the poppy fields.

* * * * * * * *

Part Two

Roast chicken is a big part of my family's life. There's almost always some hanging around. After it's cooked and we've eaten our fill for that night, I pick the meat off the bones and put it in a plastic container in the refrigerator. Nothing goes to waste. The roasted bones and skin go into a pot with water for a rich, flavorful chicken stock. The meat goes into quesadillas, casseroles (like Mexican chilaquile casserole or chicken rice casserole), and this simple chicken salad.

I keep mine extremely plain because that's the way my family likes it, but feel free to dress yours up to suit your tastes. I would add celery if I were making it for myself, but it's one of my husband's great hates. If you use dried tarragon, know that the chicken salad will taste much better the second day.

Chicken salad with tarragon

• 2 cups leftover roasted chicken, shredded or chopped (store-bought rotisserie chicken works well)
• 2 hard-boiled eggs, minced (optional)
• 4 green onions, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 2 tsp dried tarragon (or 2 Tbsp chopped fresh tarragon)
• juice and zest of 1 lemon
• salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients well in a large mixing bowl. Refrigerate to let the flavors combine, at least 1/2 hour and up to two days.

Mexican chilaquiles breakfast casserole recipe

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Today is my older son Emery's eleventh birthday. Cue swirling cliches: how big, how fast, how grown up, and so on. Yes, there's all of that. And then there's the menu.

As you may remember, Emery is the child whose first original recipe involved bitter lettuce and truffle oil. Whose proudest accomplishment to date may very well be the soup with Asian greens he made all on his own. Whose birthday party last year involved a small-plates dinner party for ten 10-year-olds. This year his birthday dinner involved his two closest friends, one of whom eats gluten-free, and he designed a menu that met her requirements (Italian ragu over polenta cakes, roasted cauliflower, sauteed spinach with garlic, vanilla ice cream). It seems only fitting that he would have a special breakfast request on his birthday. Thus, the "chilaquiles" casserole pictured above.

I was trying to remember, this morning, when and why I started making this casserole. I can't figure it out. If I had to guess, it was probably born of both inspiration (everyone loves Mexican!) and desperation (how am I going to use up this leftover [fill in the blank]?). But however it came into being, it's a classic in my house. Mexican flavors, a handy vehicle for many of the small bits left in the refrigerator after the weekend, do-ahead ease - perfect for both school days and brunch parties alike.

All measurements below are approximate and flexible, as are most of the ingredients. Think of this as the canvas with background. The specific colors - those you get to choose.

I got crap for posting this before from the "You must never leave food at room temperature!" police, but I will mention again that I mix this up in the evening, put it in the cold oven overnight, and use my timer to bake it in the morning before everyone gets up so it's ready at breakfast time. I have never had a problem doing this. I realize it violates restaurant health code policies. Make your own decision.

Mexican chilaquiles breakfast casserole

• 2 cups crushed tortilla chips (measure after crushing)
• 2 cups shredded Mexican blend cheese (or Monterey jack, or cheddar, or...)
• 1 cup leftover cooked meat (ground beef, shredded pork, roast chicken...)
• 1 can black or pinto beans
• Any or all (or none) of the following: shredded raw zucchini, chopped green onions, leftover cooked vegetables, grated raw carrots
• 1 28-ounce can mild green enchilada sauce (or medium, or hot, or red, or...)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix together all ingredients until well blended. Pack into a baking dish and pop into the oven for about an hour. Serve with sour cream, salsa, guacamole, or hot sauce. Or all of the above.

Recipe: Leftover lettuce vegetable soup (aka "Kitchen sink soup" or "Family soup")

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I'm lucky to have two boys who like to cook. Strangely enough, however, they're rarely in the mood to cook at the same time. To make matters worse, it often happens that one of them decides he's ready to cook just as I'm finishing up. Bad timing. Out of sync.

But this past weekend the stars were in alignment, and after breakfast all of us wanted some time in the kitchen. The refrigerator was stuffed with leftover ingredients from the previous night's dinner party - I'd given over my kitchen to a wonderful chef from Napa so he could make a stunning dinner for my husband's watch-collector friends. He left an eclectic assortment of prepped vegetables and herbs, bits of leftover cheese, and a few mystery ingredients I was a tiny bit scared to investigate. There was quite a bit of lettuce, too.

We are not a huge salad-eating family. Michael, my husband, considers salad an obligation, though he'll eat it to set a good example. The boys will eat salad with certain constraints. Emery, the elder, prefers a sesame or miso dressing with tender butter lettuce, or the salad with truffle oil and Meyer lemon he engineered last summer. Weston, the younger, will only eat Caesar salad; I have learned to make a pretty good Caesar dressing, which I keep in the refrigerator in a jar and hope not to confuse with the jar of homemade caramel sauce come ice cream time.

I hate to throw out food, so lettuce soup has become a staple. The original version, a lettuce soup with tarragon, is an excellent base, but adding other vegetables and herbs changes things up. And I love making soup with my kids: There's just enough slicing and chopping, but because it will all be pureed smooth later, the exact size and shape don't matter. It helps that both boys love soup in most any form. Top it with something crunchy - homemade croutons, most often, although crushed tortilla chips will do when I'm short on bread and/or time - and the soup disappears.

So Emery chopped onions and potatoes. I cut up a head of cauliflower. Weston sliced celery. And it all went into the pot with several handfuls of leftover salad greens, a bit of dried tarragon, vegetable stock concentrate, and water just to cover. We brought it to a boil, turned down the heat, simmered until everything was soft, buzzed it with the stick blender, then added a little cream. Weston always tastes for seasoning at the end, and he has an exacting palate: "A little salt, a tiny  bit of pepper, and some lemon juice," he said authoritatively. I followed his lead, and he tasted again. "Perfect," he said. And the soup was done.

With a soup like this, quantities and proportions are approximate, so feel free to adjust to your particular tastes or the contents of your vegetable drawer on a given day. Just make sure you have enough potatoes to give the soup some body when it's pureed. And feel free to use chicken stock instead of the vegetable stock concentrate and water - the soup will definitely taste richer.

Kitchen Sink Soup, or Family Soup, or Leftover Lettuce Vegetable Soup

(Use whichever name you like best)

• 1 large onion, diced
  
• 1 lb Idaho potatoes, any variety, unpeeled, diced
• 1 head cauliflower, cut into smallish pieces
• 4 stalks celery, diced
• 6 cups salad greens, washed and torn or cut into pieces
• 2 Tbsp vegetable stock concentrate
• 1 tsp dried tarragon
• water just to cover
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
  
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• salt and pepper to taste
  

Combine all ingredients in a large pot and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat and simmer the soup until the vegetables are very soft, about 40 minutes. Remove the soup from the heat and blitz with a hand-held blender until the soup is smooth; it won't be completely velvety unless you strain it through a fine-mesh strainer, but that takes out much of the fiber, so I don't recommend it. Add the cream, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Stir and serve with croutons on top. (Yes, I know the soup is garnished with chopped bell peppers in the photo. It looks pretty, but it doesn't taste very good. Skip it, unless you're taking pictures.)

Recipe: Savory bread pudding with caramelized onions and Comte cheese

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Oh, yes, my husband is a happy man today. Because, you see, he is home for lunch, and a little earlier I made savory bread pudding.

I believe I've already enlightened you about my love affair with sweet bread pudding, especially my signature version with chocolate and cherries. But savory bread pudding, that's another thing entirely. Combine stale leftover bread with grated cheese, crumbled bacon, an herb or two, and a custard base of eggs and milk or cream, and you've got - well, you've got heaven in a baking dish. And, to bring the dish up another notch (if that's even possible), today I included the unbelievably delicious caramelized onions I made yesterday, using the method in an article by Russ Parsons in last week's Los Angeles Times.

I'm writing the recipe the way I made it, but you can change the cheese to your taste, mix in leftover cooked vegetables, switch out the herbs. It's completely flexible. It's a great side dish for a dinner party because you can assemble it ahead of time and let it sit in the refrigerator for a few hours, or even overnight, before you bake it.

Savory bread pudding with bacon and caramelized onions

• 1/2 loaf leftover challah
• 8 eggs
• 2 cups heavy cream plus 2 cups milk (or 4 cups half-and-half)
• 2 cubes porcini bouillon (available at gourmet stores, or leave it out)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• ground pepper to taste
• 2 cups grated Comte cheese (Gruyere is a good substitute)
• 1/2 cup crumbled cooked bacon
• 3/4 cup caramelized onions (substitute: 2 sauteed onions)
• 1 tsp dried thyme

Tear the challah into bite-sized pieces and spread them out on a cookie sheet. Leave them out for a few hours to make them slightly stale. Alternatively, toast them in a 350 degree oven for 15 minutes to dry them out.

Soften the bouillon cubes in 1/4 cup of the milk.

In a large bowl, beat the eggs. Whisk in the cream and milk. Fold in the bread cubes so they can absorb the liquid. Fold in the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Let the mixture sit in the bowl for an hour, stirring it up every 15 minutes to redistribute the ingredients.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Spray a 9x13 baking pan with cooking spray and turn the bread mixture into the pan. Bake at 400 degrees for about 50 minutes, until the top is golden and puffy. It will fall after a few minutes out of the oven, but no matter. It will taste just as lofty.

Recipe: Pasta frittata, the highest and best use for leftover pasta

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I think the original leftover pasta frittata came to me via a very old issue of Gourmet magazine. That must have been in the late 80s. Since then I've made this dish in dozens of ways. The methodology is always the same; the ingredients vary wildly depending on what's in my pantry or refrigerator at any given time.

The frittata above was made with leftover whole-wheat penne with pesto and baby spinach. But you can use any shape pasta, any kind of sauce, any add-ins. It works with everything.

Someday, when I write my first cookbook, I'm going to call it The Goddess of Leftovers. Because, truly, I am.

Leftover pasta frittata

any kind of leftover pasta, with sauce on
6-8 eggs
a few handfuls of shredded cheese (I use mozzarella, but others would work)
a handful of grated parmesan or romano cheese
salt and pepper
anything else that you think might work: crumbled bacon, diced cooked chicken, leftover cooked vegetables, capers, chopped anchovies, a few sun-dried tomatoes....

Preheat the broiler on high. Put the rack on the second-highest shelf - you want it more than a couple inches away from the heat (in my oven, anyway) or the frittata will burn on top.

Mix all ingredients in a bowl. You want there to be enough egg that you can see it, because the egg will surround the pasta in the pan and make a sort of omelet around it. But you don't want there to be so much egg that it's mostly egg. It's a balancing act. (And if you don't get it exactly right, don't worry, because it will still taste great.)

Heat an ovenproof skillet over high heat. Swirl in some olive oil, then dump in the pasta-egg mixture. As it sets, lift up the edges with a spatula so more of the egg can run underneath.

When the bottom is set and browned, take the skillet and put it under the broiler. Check it after three minutes to make sure it's not burning. I usually leave it in about five minutes, but last time I did end up burning it, so next time I'm going to be more careful.

When the top is golden brown, remove it from the heat and let it sit in the pan for about 10 minutes. The residual heat will cook the egg all the way through, if it hasn't already, and letting it cool will allow it to set up a bit before you take it out and cut it.

After a little bit, slide the frittata onto a board. Cut into wedges. Eat hot, warm, cold, whatever.

My favorite combination, by the way, is leftover pasta with pesto, to which I add capers, anchovies, bacon, and mozzarella. Try it and tell me what your favorite combo is!

Recipe: Tilapia cakes

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I think this recipe was born when I was looking for a way to use up leftover fish. Tilapia is a good friend to our kitchen, in part because they sell beautiful farm-raised tilapia at Costco in packages big enough for dinner plus leftovers. I also like its mildness and versatility. I've made versions of these fish cakes with salmon too, and that's fine, but they definitely taste like salmon. The tilapia makes it more flexible in terms of seasonings.

It does help to make the patties an hour or two in advance so they can firm up in the refrigerator before frying. They hold together better that way.

My husband points out that the reason the kids like these is that they're like big round fish sticks. I think of them more as crab cake stand-ins, but it doesn't matter much. They disappear quickly in our house.

Tilapia cakes with lemon-caper sauce
makes 12 generous patties

1/2 plus 1/4 cup mayonnaise, divided
4 Tbsp capers
juice and zest of one lemon
3 lbs tilapia fillets
1 bunch scallions, chopped
1 bell pepper, any color, chopped
2 eggs
1/2 cup breadcrumbs (dry or fresh)
salt and pepper to taste
flour, for dredging patties before frying
olive oil, for frying

Make sauce: In a bowl, mix together 1/2 cup mayonnaise, lemon juice, capers, and salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate until it's time to eat.

Make patties: Heat oven to 350 degrees. Bake the tilapia fillets on a baking sheet about 15 minutes, or until cooked through. Let cool, then flake in a big bowl.

To the flaked fish add 1/4 cup mayonnaise, lemon zest, scallions, bell pepper, eggs, breadcrumbs, and salt and pepper to taste. Mix together until all ingredients are well distributed, especially the eggs. Form into patties about the size of hamburgers - wet your hands first if it's too sticky. Put the patties on a baking sheet and refrigerate an hour or two to let the patties firm up a bit.

Heat about a half-inch of olive oil in a heavy skillet over medium heat. Put some flour in a shallow bowl or on a plate, and coat each patty in the flour. This will make a nice crusty shell when you fry the patties, so even though it's a little bit of a pain, don't skip it.

Fry the patties in the olive oil until golden brown on both sides. Serve with the sauce. Watch them evaporate.