The best thing I ate all week: leftovers for breakfast

On two occasions this week I turned leftovers from dinner the night before into breakfast the following day and in each case the results far exceeded my expectations. The first time around, leftover polenta was cooked in sausage grease, and loosened with water to become more like grits, while sautéed greens were scrambled with eggs. Served with a few breakfast sausages and this proved to be an incredibly satisfying and dare-I-say attractive meal. The second time around, leftover nachos became a chilaquila-esque egg bake that looked about as good as my dog’s puke but tasted phenomenal—a definite member of the ugly delicious family of foods.

Breakfast sausages and leftover broccoli rabe egg scramble over polenta-come-grits.

While enjoying my creations this week I couldn’t help but think of Tamar Adler and her wonderful book, An Everlasting Meal. Adler shares a perspective on food and cooking that seems so obvious and intuitive, yet is simultaneously eye-opening. Her concept of the Everlasting Meal revolves around the idea that leftovers shouldn’t be a burden to feel guilty about, but an opportunity and an inspiration for whatever you make next. The short little book was essentially an “ah-hah” moment for a home cook like me who struggles with the boredom of eating leftovers for the third time in a row and too often finds leftovers that have to be tossed because they weren’t consumed fast enough.

This book is at the top of my “recommend to friends into cooking” list. In fact, I lent it to someone and never got it back. If you have my copy of An Everlasting Meal please return it!

There is something so satisfying about transforming an unwanted or discarded leftover into something new. Perhaps this is why I enjoy making chicken stock so much. It’s literally the process of turning the trash from one meal into gold that can become any number of future dishes.

Now, I won’t pretend that scrambling leftover greens with eggs is some magical alchemy or that baking soggy nachos in salsa and eggs is any kind of revelation. But, at a time when the amount of food that is thrown away is more than enough to feed the hungry all over the world, an opportunity to repurpose leftovers should be celebrated. Not only did it feel good to transform leftover bits into a new dish but it tasted especially good, like the flavors from two separate meals were packed into one dish. Maybe it’s all in my head but I think there’s something to it and I’m going to keep on the lookout for more opportunities to convert unwanted leftovers into something new and enticing. I think you should too. Do it not just because you’ll feel good about reducing waste but because it will taste oh so good!