Leftovers with a lavish twist
Make an entirely new creation rather than piling up another plate of turkey
When it comes time to eat your way through the sea of holiday leftovers piled high in your fridge, you could simply reheat a plate and have Christmas dinner, round two (or three, or four).
Or, you could take a cue from one of the creative gourmands below and remix your leftover Brussels sprouts, mashed potatoes and turkey into a new, equally delicious dish.
Clean up your leftovers by making a ‘Buddha bowl’ Abigail Hopkins is the co-founder of That Clean Life, a healthy eating meal-planning platform.
“In case you missed the memo, Buddha bowls are all the rage right now. It’s basically the hipster name for a complementary mix of vegetables in a bowl, smothered with your dressing of choice,” she says.
“I love Buddha bowls because they can be made in advance, divided into containers and stored in the fridge for easy grab-and-go meals.
“You will more than likely have all the ingredients you need left over from your holiday meal to throw together an epic Buddha bowl.
“The key to a good Buddha bowl is to incorporate an even mix of leafy greens, a starch (sweet potatoes or rice), a protein (leftover turkey), extra vegetables (broccoli or Brussels sprouts) and a delicious dressing.
“My favourite Buddha bowl of all time contains roasted cauliflower, carrots, beet, turnip, parsnip and chickpeas served with sautéed kale and quinoa, then smothered with my favourite tahini dressing.”
4 tbsp tahini
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 lemon (juiced)
1 garlic clove (minced)
1/4 tsp sea salt
“Create the dressing by combining tahini, extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, minced garlic and sea salt together in a Mason jar. Add three tablespoons of warm water. Shake well and set aside.”
Combine savoury and sweet for a sophisticated new dessert Cori Murphy is a pastry chef at Lavelle, a restaurant in Toronto’s King West neighbourhood, and formerly of Alo and Canoe
“If I was to make a dessert using Christmas leftovers, I would make a sweet potato cheesecake, with a gingerbread crumb, a side of cranberry sauce and a dollop of whipped cream.
“You’d need: gingerbread cookies, sweet potato purée or mash, butter, cream cheese, cinnamon/ginger/ nutmeg, sugar, eggs, cranberry sauce and orange zest.
“To start, blitz leftover gingerbread cookies in a food processor. Add sugar and butter. Press the crust into the bottom of a springform pan and bake at 350 (F) degrees for about 10 minutes. To make your cheesecake batter, combine and mix all ingredients in stand mixer until smooth and pour on top of gingerbread crust. Take spoonfuls of sweet potato mash and drop into batter.
“With a paring knife, make swirls of sweet potato throughout the cake. Bake in a water bath at 300 (F) degrees until done, about one hour.
“Slice, and serve with a spoonful of cranberry sauce and a dollop of whipped cream.”
Use your leftover stuffing to create an epic Christmas burger Greg Boggs owns the Ace, a restaurant and bar on Roncesvalles Ave.
“The Ace Xmas Burger was conceived as a way to pack the tried-and true flavours of a traditional holiday dinner into a neatly wrapped package,” he says.
“Bookend it with a potato bun and add a side of crispy fries and the only thing you’ll be missing is a wedge of pie, which we highly recommend.”
The cranberry compote
3/4 cup frozen cranberries
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cinnamon stick
1 vanilla bean
1oz Wild Turkey bourbon
1/2 cup orange juice Zest of 1 orange
Combine all the cranberry compote ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Simmer for 10 minutes and let cool.
The burger meat
1/2 small onion
1/2 sprig rosemary
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 lb. ground turkey (50/50 light/dark meat)
1 egg
Handful of bread crumbs
Salt and pepper
Puree the onion, rosemary and Dijon, add the puree to the meat with egg, bread crumbs and seasoning.
Mix by hand and form into equalsized balls.
To finish
Split each ball of meat and fill with a golf ball-sized portion of stuffing; reform the meatball around the stuffing.
Roast stuffed burgers on a parchment-lined sheet tray with olive oil, salt and pepper. Toast a bun and top with mayo, lettuce, tomato, and cranberry compote; Add cooked burger patty and serve with hand-cut fries
Makes four burgers