Learning to Love Leftovers

One of things I like the least about cooking is the mess it leaves behind—the sinkful of dishes that have to be cleaned and the inevitable leftovers that come from cooking for two.  I have learned to combat the former by convincing Jason that doing the dishes is his manly duty and only fair if I’m the one who’s making dinner every day. But the latter is a bit harder given that most recipes are geared towards the traditional family of four, which wouldn’t be so bad if it weren’t for one little thing:

I hate leftovers.

I always have. You can ask my mom. I rarely want to eat the same thing two days in a row. Maybe it is because I find that a lot of things don’t reheat well (or maybe I just don’t know how to reheat them). For example, the two exceptions to my anti-leftovers rule are pasta and soup both of which reheat extremely well. But even then, I rarely enjoy as much as I did the first time around.

For most of the time that Jason and I have been together, I have been able to deal with this issue by giving him the leftover food to take for lunch the next day (Jason does not have a problem with eating the same thing two or more days in a row). But now that I am spending 90 minutes a day (at least) commuting to/from work, I am trying to embrace the concept of leftovers a little bit more. My theory is if I turn the leftovers into something new, maybe I will learn to love them.

I tested this hypothesis the other night with the flank steak we had leftover from Sunday night dinner. Rather than just heating it up and eating it with some of our leftover potato salad, I decided to use it to make something completely different—steak quesadillas!

Quesadillas (at least the way I’ve been known to make them) are a great weeknight meal. Simply throw some sautéed vegetables, cheese, and anything else you may want into a flour tortilla and heat it a non-stick skillet until everything is warm, the cheese is melty and the tortilla is golden brown—quick and satisfying.

Maybe leftovers aren’t so bad after all.

Steak Quesadillas

Ingredients:
½ grilled flank steak, thinly sliced and cut into bite size pieces
½ red pepper, thinly sliced
½ onion, thinly sliced
1 cup shredded cheese (more or less depending on how cheesy you like your quesadillas)
4 flour tortillas
1 TBL olive oil

1.Heat 1 TBL of olive oil in a non-stick skillet.  Add onions and peppers and sauté until soft—about 5 minutes. Add steak and stir until it has started to warm. Transfer to a dish and wipe out the skillet with a paper towel.
2.Divide the steak and vegetable mixture among the flour tortillas and add the desired amount of cheese. Fold each tortilla over in half so that you have half-moons.
3.Heat non-stick skillet over medium-low heat. Spray with cooking spray. Add two of the folder tortillas and cook 2 minutes per side (or until the tortilla is golden and the cheese has melted). Repeat with the remaining two tortillas.
4.Cut into wedges (I like to use a pizza wheel for this) and serve with sour cream, salsa, and/or guacamole.