Leftovers

So, after cooking all the steak of last time, there was definitely leftovers. My parents don’t eat all the much and I sure as hell don’t so…we had extras. Normally, I don’t do leftovers…something about the texture and the way the microwave just messes things up. This time though, I used the oven to heat things up and it came out better than I expected.

Steak and Hummus sandwiches

1/2 red onion, thinly sliced

*1/2 cup sliced pickled banana peppers, plus 1/2 cup juice from the jar

1/2 cup hummus

1 pound grilled flank steak (reserved from previous recipe)

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

4 pocketless pitas

8 romaine lettuce leaves, thinly sliced (I used bagged salad mix)

1. Preheat a grill or grill pan to medium high. Toss the onion, banana peppers and 1/3 cup of pickle juice in a bowl. Whisk the hummus with 3-4 tablespoons water in another bowl until smooth and pourable.

2. Thinly slice the steak against the grain, then cut crosswise into bite-size pieces. Toss the remaining tablespoons pickle juice, 1 tablespoon olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste.

3. Brush the pitas on one side with the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill, oiled-side down, until lightly toasted, about 1 minute.

4.Remove the pitas from the grill and top with the steak. Drain the onion and peppers; divide evenly among the pitas. Top with the lettuce and drizzle with the hummus sauce. Top with hot sauce, if desired.

*I did not use the banana peppers, instead I used the tapenade.

The recipe calls for pocketless pitas, but I decided to use whole wheat flatbread that I warmed in the oven with the meat. I also mixed the onions with the leftover tapenade from before. Very tasty addition

Post Christmas eating

 

I am not a big leftover fan. Never have been, never really will be. there are occasions where I will eat leftovers, but it usually occurs during the holidays, when there is good food still left over. Normally, this is not an issue, since before the surgery, I would eat what I wanted and not worry about it. Now, not so much. Because of this, it has fallen on my husband to eat what is left, which can cause him some serious pain in the belly and the morning after. This has led to some bad food waste and some grumblings from his side of the bed because “it gets boring.”

Because of this, I had to come up with a new creative way to get him to eat this stuff and not be pouty that’s it’s the same thing. So, using the pork from the dinner, I made this quick little quesadilla's, and I could actually eat them, though without some of the fillings I used for him. 

These are what his looked like, with all the fillings and stuff I can no longer eat.

this makes two quesadillas, but you could make more if you like.

Here’s how:

1 cup of leftover, shredded pork

2 tbsp. of garden vegetable cream cheese

2 cups of shredded lettuce

1 or 2 tortillas

1 Roma tomato

2 tbsp. of your favorite barbecue sauce

salt

pepper

1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese

In a small bowl, mix together the pork, salt, pepper and barbecue sauce, mixing thoroughly. (I used a cast iron skillet, so now would be the time to preheat it. If not, preheat your trusty sidekick skillet, spraying with pam or butter)

Cut tomato in half, then slice each half into half-moon shapes. Set aside. On one side of the tortilla, spread out the cream chess spread to a thin layer, taking it almost to the edge. On top of this, spread out one to two heaping tablespoons of the pork mixture, with a cup of lettuce piled on top. On top of this, add 3-4 slices of tomato. Sprinkle half the cheese on top and press down, pressing the top part of the tortilla into the thin layer of cream cheese on the bottom.

Place into the skillet, cooking 3-4 minutes on each side. You aren’t cooking the meat, just melting the cheese and heating the whole thing through, so you can let it go as long or short as you like. I did about 4 minutes a side and got a nice brown shade.

The husband's plate loaded with leftovers and goodness.

Bariatric editing:

Mine had to be simpler, since I wasn’t going to be able to handle the cream cheese or the just massive quantities of food piled high on the tortilla. For bariatric patients, I took off the cream cheese, passed up the lettuce and just piled up the pork mixture and tomato with a bit of cheese. After cooking it over the skillet, it heated them up nicely and got them soft enough for me to enjoy. Also, my husband found the barbecue sauce with the lowest carb rating there was, but as my dietician says, right now, I’m getting so little food, just an oz., that it’s not going to make much of difference now. Later on though, it will. Which is why I’m getting into he habit now.

 

As you can see they are much thinner than the husbands and I cut them in half then half again. I only got about a sliver down, but they were good anyway.