Dietitians Dish – November 21, 2022
Love Your Leftovers!
Holiday meals can lend themselves to a lot of leftovers and food waste. As you plan for Thanksgiving dinner, take extra time to plan for post-holiday meals. Just shop for those extra ingredients to create new meals from the leftovers. This way, you won’t get bored reheating and eating the meat and sides the same way you did on the big day! Add a spicy twist with a pasta dish or create a flavorful slider combination. You can’t go wrong if you make a plan to use of the leftover turkey and sides in new ways.
Cajun Turkey Pasta
- 1 package (8.8 ounces) red lentil penne pasta
- 1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes with green pepper, celery & onion
- 1-1/2 cups shredded skinless leftover or cooked turkey breast meat
- 1 Tbsp. Cajun seasoning
- 2 cups packed baby spinach
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Directions:
- Cook pasta as label directs; drain, return to saucepot and cover.
- In large skillet, cook tomatoes, turkey and seasoning over medium heat 4 minutes or until heated through. Add spinach; cover and cook 1 minute or until spinach is wilted. Stir tomato mixture into pasta. Makes about 8 cups. Serve pasta sprinkled with cheese.
Leftover Turkey Sliders
- 1-1/2 cups frozen sweet potato fries
- 2 tsps. olive oil
- 2 cups sliced leftover turkey
- 3/4 cup leftover Pear-Walnut Stuffing
- 12 wheat slider buns
- 3 slices Swiss cheese, quartered
- 2 cups spring mix lettuce
- 1/2 cup Cranberry Chutney
Directions:
- Add garlic to a medium saucepot.
- Preheat oven to 375°. Spray rimmed baking pan with cooking spray. In medium bowl, toss fries with oil; spread on 1 side of prepared pan. Tear 2 (12 x 24-inch) sheets aluminum foil; enclose turkey and stuffing separately in foil. Place foil packets on pan opposite fries; bake 20 minutes or until fries are crisp, and turkey and stuffing are heated through.
- Top bottom halves of buns with cheese, spring mix, chutney, turkey, stuffing, fries and top halves of buns.