It is that glorious day of the year we all look forward to once Halloween passes, but then suddenly hate ourselves once Thanksgiving is over. And if we do not have enough guilt resting in our stomachs, we have all the leftover Turkey and stuffing just staring at us in the face as a reminder that we just committed one of the seven deadly sins. Out of our disgust and self-pity we usually end up hastily throwing out all the food in one sitting; a perfectly good meal that could feed a whole family is now gone due to our inability to think beyond the turkey leg and casseroles.
Below I have comprised a list of some creative twists on our Thanksgiving favorites that allow us to put our gluttonous Thanksgiving in the past without wasting perfectly edible food:
Start with the bird…
The same way I go on my tangents of the endless possibilities with a whole chicken, the same holds true with an entire turkey. The taste of turkey is very neutral and can be used whenever a recipe call for chicken and added to just about any salad, soup, or sandwich. You can reheat the turkey in a pan with a variety of seasonings to get a different flavor profile, and remove any lingering memories of your debaucherous Thanksgiving feast. Some, but definitely not all alternative turkey ideas:
Turkey omelette > can add tomatoes, basil, zucchini, goat cheese, roasted tomatoes, etc.
Turkey Chili > shred the turkey and add to the base of any bean chili (can put in a food processor to get a more ground meat effect)
Turkey Club Sandwich > sourdough bread, 2 slices of turkey, avocado, tomato, pepper jack cheese, soft boiled egg, and spicy mustard
Turkey Tacos > shred the turkey meat and add desired seasonings (paprika, cumin, and chilli powder). Put inside a corn tortilla and add your favorite taco toppings (avocado, cilantro, cojita cheese, radishes, pico de gallo, crema, etc.)
Sides
Breakfast Stuffed Muffins > fill muffin baking pans with leftover stuffing as the base. Crack an egg and top with cheese and fresh herbs and bake in the oven.
Shepherd's Pie > use the leftover mashed potatoes or sweet potatoes as the second layer of the pie. You can also use the leftover turkey instead of ground beef as the base.
Fried Macaroni and cheese balls >. take the leftover macaroni and cheese and form them into round balls. Dip the balls into an egg mixture, and then into panko crumbs (do it twice for more crunch). You can either bake or fry them to make the perfect appetizer or snack.
Corn chowder > convert your leftover corn casserole into the base for a corn chowder; the same can be down with green bean casserole.
Cranberry vinaigrette > Take leftover cranberry sauce and add olive oil, red wine vinegar, honey, chives, salt and pepper
With a little creativity your Thanksgiving feast can spread further than just for that one Thursday!