A reminder that this list doesn’t try and cover everything but a selection along with some alternative inspirational ways of using them rather than the normal steam, boil, bake...Feel free to contact me via goodfoodandnutrition@gmail.com , with your ideas, I will try then and then if I use them in future editions I will credit you accordingly.  You can also check out my foodie travels by visiting my travelogue www.ninageraghty.word

I felt this year  it was right to produce some leftovers ideas to help stretch budgets and utilise every scrap of fresh food that you have.  So I hope you like my selection that follows ;

Lovely leftovers

You have done the hard work for the main meal, but there might be some leftovers so I have pulled together some ideas of ways to use them up.  Hopefully these will give you some “food for thought” to create some different meals with not too much preparation.  Most of the recipes will serve 4 but you can alter the amounts dependant on how much you have left or even how hungry you are! They are also adaptable enough to change ingredients around dependant on what you actually have to hand.  Main thing is enjoying the creativity and avoid any waste.  Nina

Cream of Cauliflower Cheese soup

Chop up your cold cauliflower cheese, pop into a large saucepan, add approx. ¾ pint of milk of your choice – you are looking to cover the cauliflower cheese by about 5cm.  Bring to a gentle simmer for 5 mins, remove from the heat and blitz using a stick blender, a masher or your blender.  Serve in a soup bowl with a sprinkle of paprika and some grated cheese on top.

NB you can do the same with leeks in cheese sauce leftover or broccoli in cheese sauce leftovers.

Cream of Roast Vegetable Soup with pesto

A good way of using all your vegetables up, roast boiled or cooked anyway.  Put your leftover vegetables into a large pan, cover with chicken stock, bring to a simmer.  Simmer for approx. 5 minutes until it is piping hot, remove from the heat and using your blender, masher or stick blender blitz to a smooth puree, if it seems too thick add a little more stock.  Stir into this mixture a couple of tablespoons of leftover cream if you have it if not, a splash of milk and mix together then serve.  This works well if you drop a spoonful of cream in the middle when serving and a little pesto on top, then you can mix it through when eating it. 

Bubbly Squeaky Bake

Rather than fiddle around making these into neat shapes, I roughly mash everything together adding a little leftover gravy if I have it to moisten in slightly, then in a lightly oiled oven proof dish, cover the base totally level off the top, sprinkle of black pepper and pop into the oven for approx. 20 to 25 minutes at Gas 4/180C/FAN 160C.  About 5 mins before the end of the cooking time you can either sprinkle some grated cheese on top and allow it to melt into it.  Or you can layer any pigs on blankets on top and pop back into the oven to ensure they are fully heated through.   Then remove from the oven and cut into thick slices and serve – makes an ideal lunch you can always use up any salad bits with it too.

Potato Gnocchi

I have given you some idea of quantities for this – mix together 300g cold mashed potato, 100g plain flour and 1 egg.  Using a wooden spoon beat well together, it should be rather like a bread dough – it should be light, not sticky but have a bit of elasticity in it.  Put this mixture onto a floured surface and roll out evenly to approx. 2cm thick – cut into strips about 5cm wide and then into small rectangles approx. 2cm x 5cm

Leave to one side while you bring a saucepan of salted boiling water to a rolling boil, carefully put in the potato pieces [ I use a draining spoon to lower them in] Reduce to a gentle boil and cook for approx. 3-4 minutes.  A tip to know if they are cooked is they float to the top of the saucepan.  Drain and fold some cranberry sauce, or pesto, or a tomato-based sauce if you prefer, through them then serve with turkey slices.  These can be prepared in advance but cook and serve immediately they will not re heat very successfully they tend to break up a little.

I like these personally with the pesto folded through them and a sprinkle of pine nuts! For a complete lunch preferable hot but they do work cold as a lunch

Cheese Stuffed Vegetable Cakes

Put your cold leftover vegetables into a bowl and mash together, add an egg to this mixture and ensure it is well mixed in.  Take a large spoonful and mould into a flat circle – I tend to put the mixture onto a board, press down and shape, take a spoonful of soft cheese and ½ teaspoon of cranberry sauce [ or you can use up your cheese with cranberries in it!] and place in the middle of the circle, the bring the edges up to close over the top of it.  You are in effect making a round cake with the cheese and cranberry in the middle.  Take a tablespoon of flour and put onto a flat plate, gently coat your vegetable cake in flour, and at this stage you can pop them flat onto a tray in the fridge until you want to cook them later.  To cook, heat a knob of butter or drizzle of oil in a frying pan, heat until gently sizzling on the hob, gently place the veggie cakes in and cook for 3 to 4 mins each side, gently turning over half way they will be golden brown and have a slight crispy coating from the flour.  These are perfect with a poached egg or with any leftover meats or salad….

Turkey Hash

Good brunch dish for the morning after the night before!

Peel and dice 500g of potatoes, boil for 8 minutes in salted water, Drain well

Take a tablespoon of oil put into a large fry pan over a medium heat and fry and sliced leek and a chopped onion, when it starts to soften after a few minutes add the potato and cook for a further 10 mins to start to brown the potato, turn the contents over from time to time to prevent burning.  Now drop into the pan your cooked turkey and you really need to ensure this is heated thoroughly through – I find about 10 minutes works well.  Serve sprinkled with a little smoked paprika and a fried or poached egg.

Turkey, cranberry and Vegetable Pie

This is my Boxing Day go to!  Take an ovenproof dish – I use an enamel round quiche tin, layer alternatively your roast vegetables [ a bit of everything!] and your cold bits of turkey – it is a good way of using up the smaller pieces of meat.  Finish up with a layer of turkey, pour over any leftover gravy with some cranberry sauce mixed into it. You don’t want to smoother but just keep the ingredients moist whilst it cooks.  Now you might have readymade pastry to roll into a pie lid.  If not, into a bowl put 150g of plain flour, rub into it 75 g of butter or cooking margarine whichever you normally use, rub in well until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs and has no lumps in it.  Stir in ½ teaspoon of salt and make a well in the middle and using a knife mix in a beaten egg and pull the mixture all together until you have one large pastry ball.  Ideally you could make the pastry and rest it for 20 mins in the fridge, but if not don’t worry, roll out to just slightly bigger than the top of your pie, place carefully on top, sealing it to the dish with a bit of water on your finger.  Trim off any excess and cut three slashes in the top of the pie. Place in your preheated oven, Gas5/200C/FAN180C cook for approximately 20 minutes, the pastry should be golden and slightly crispy to the touch and the pie steaming inside.  Serve a slice with some freshly cooked greens if you prefer or just on its own after all it has the meat and veg within it.  Makes a good TV supper or one that you can eat with a fork if you have a crowd of people.

Turkey Toasties

Making this with sourdough bread is one of my favourites, but you can use any good quality bread. Allow two slices of bread per person, lightly butter one side of the bread, put buttered side down onto your surface and put onto the “bare” side Sliced turkey, cooked red cabbage if you have some left! Slice of cheese.  If you don’t have red cabbage, use some cranberry sauce. Put the other slice of bread buttered side facing outwards on top, heat your frying pan and using a fish slice place your sandwich into the pan, cook for approx. 5 mins till it is sizzling and browning, then very carefully turn over.  If of course you have one of those electric sandwich toaster type grills you can cook it in there.  You are looking for a crispy outside and a soft melted cheesy filling….. delicious.

Turkey Broth with stuffing dumplings

You have also got the standard quick wins with Turkey broth [ carcass] added to water and boiled to remove every last bit of turkey from the bones, once simmered for approx. 1 hour then sieve and throw the bare bones away you now have a wonderful broth to add diced veg {carrots, onion, potatoes, parsnips and season with some Worcester sauce, salt and pepper, paprika] to and make a delicious soup.  I like to use it with some diced root veg and shredded turkey and some barley then put it in the slow cooker for the day, and return home to the warming smell of this broth.  You can do it on top of the stove too, the key is to make sure the vegetables are tender.  If you do have some stuffing left it is ideal to use it like dumplings and drop into the turkey broth just before serving to heat through fully [ slow cooker the last hour]

Turkey Pasta Bake

You just need some cooked pasta, tin of tomatoes flavoured with either barbeque spice, smoked paprika or ras el hanout spice, bit of cheese and some turkey for this. Feel free to add onion, celery etc if you have them in.  Mix your spice of choice into the tin of tomatoes, cook the pasta, mix together add in the shredded turkey and place in an ovenproof dish, sprinkle grated cheese on top and pop into a hot oven Gas4 /180C/FAN160C for approx. 25 mins.  Hey presto easy meal.

Turkey Curry

Lightly fry a diced onion in a little oil in a frying pan, add your curry paste and cook out for a couple of minutes, then add approx. 250ml  stock and mix the curried onion into the liquid, if you are making korma then you can add coconut milk instead of the stock.  Add in your cooked turkey, heat fully for approx. 15 mins then serve with plain boiled rice.

Nigel Slaters leftover Cheese Scone Ring

I can honestly say the best cheese scone recipe I have ever done is one of Nigel Slaters and is widely available on the internet.  It uses up any bits of cheese that have been left over from your cheese board.  His recipe uses 450g plain flour, baking powder x 4 teaspoons, 85g of butter and he rubs the butter into the flour till it looks like breadcrumbs, stir through the baking powder, add 350ml of milk and pull it together into a rough ball. Now crumble in a mixture of cheeses [blue works really well and smoked] and continue to pull together into a large mountain style circle.  Now line a baking tray with parchment and a little flour then put your rough round of scone mixture on top. It isn’t smooth it is a bit craggy! This is proper rustic dish and you just need to brush a little milk over it, score the surface into 8 pieces and believe it of not grate any hard cheese on top of it.  Place in your preheated oven [ Gas 4, 180C/FAN160C] for 30 minutes and the cheese scone is ready to serve.  You can serve it hot as a centre piece with chutney and a nice rustic vegetable soup [ tomato soup with this is lovely]

I have also done this and added bits of cooked crispy bacon, you know the bits you bought to put on the turkey but there were too many in the packet so you have a few left sitting in the fridge – just crisp them and break into bits and add with the cheese

Thank you, Nigel this is a great way, of using up little ends of cheese rather than waste them.

Toady Little piglets in Blankets

Make your batter put 200g of plain flour into a bowl add 1 teaspoon of salt, add 4 beaten eggs and 400ml of milk, make a smooth batter which will be the consistency of double cream [ it will coat the back of your spoon nicely] space your piggies in blankets in the bottom of your oven proof dish adding a little oil and swishing it round to stop anything sticking.  Put the oven proof dish into the oven at Gas 4/180C/FAN160C and cook for approx. 5 mins, then remove from the oven and gently pour the batter around the sausages, return to the oven for a further 30 to 40 mins until the batter is risen and browned and crispy to the touch. If you have any left-over you can drop in sausagemeat balls flavoured with dried thyme cook with the little piglets.

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Some interesting nutritional articles to give you "food for thought"!

DOES YOUR IMMUNITY NEED A BOOST??

Certain illness affects your immunity and can leave it lacking the fight and a little weak.

Rheumatoid and psoriatic arthritis are two such illness. This reduced immunity means that a simple cold can turn into a chest infection, a muscle twinge can last months with swelling and pain, what others fight of quickly lasts and lingers.

Inflammation is high in the body with both these forms of arthritis, it is caused because the antibodies produced by the body attack itself as opposed to just fighting infection.

Medication prescribed for such illness help manage the pain but leave the immunity very weak, so one thing you can do is ensure that your nutritional intake maximises the nutrients from the food you eat, so, it might be worth a bit of a food stock-take and some home truths to help you self manage your condition.

Your 5+ a day portions of fruit and veg needs to become far more than this, originally the advice was to have 7-9 a day but it was felt by some that this was not achievable when the averages in Northern Europe fall well short of this recommendation. In fact consider this key information when deciding which lifestyle or food diet to follow;-

In the UK Britons east 258g of fruit and vegetables per day compared with a European Average of 386g [ and this is higher still in Greece – hence my love of the Greek Diet]

So you can guess from this what the first thing is you are going to do;-

• Up your fruit and vegetable intake

• Concentrate on your vegetable green leafy and ensure it is there every day in one form or another

• include garlic and onions

• Boost also by using any cooking liquid and make into a vegetable broth to capture every last bit of goodness.

Concentrate on including foods which include the following vitamins and minerals as these are known to have the biggest influence on our immune system, these are;-

• Vitamins A, C, D and E

• Zinc – helps viruses enter the body

• Selenium – acts like a sponge mopping up the free radicals caused by infection once in the body

• iron

• copper

Some of these help protect the nasal and mouth lining which in turn can prevent nasties entering the body. Others such as a vitamin D rich yoghurt will help to keep the gut bacteria healthy and in turn help with the fighting of illness.

You can see that if you are suffering from any of these immune depleting illnesses one of the worst things you can do is to cut all healthy fats out of your diet, Avocado is a great source of Vitamin E, yet left out of diets owing to its high fat content. This healthy fat along with olive oil is integral to keeping you healthy. Like anything its important to vary your diet, unprocess your diet but not remove any food groups i.e. dairy free, wheat free unless you have a medical need to do so that has been confirmed.

Thank you to all the people who took part in my Mediterranean Masterclasses at Ludlow Food Festival, we had a great time, lots of nutrition tips, cookery ideas and you all had the opportunity to cook with me and create the dishes to eat and enjoy.