Revamp Your Thanksgiving Leftovers!
Now that the high (or stress) of Thanksgiving is over and you’ve returned home with armfuls of things you bought on Black Friday (or possibly from the comfort of your laptop), there’s a whole refrigerator of leftovers waiting for you. Reheating everything individually seems like a recipe for a slightly drier Thanksgiving dinner tonight, completely with overheated-in- the-microwave turkey, leftover green beans, and some...well actually I don’t think canned cranberry sauce ever changes. So, here are a few recipes that take your Thanksgiving leftovers and transform them into a delicious meal on their own.
Thanksgiving Panini - A Post-Thanksgiving Staple
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 slices sourdough sandwich bread (other bread is fine)
2 slices Swiss cheese
1/3 cup shredded leftover roast turkey
3 tablespoons leftover cranberry sauce
1/3 cup leftover stuffing
2 tablespoons leftover gravy
2 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
Instructions:
Spread mustard and add cheese on each slice of bread. On one slice, add turkey and cranberry sauce; on the other, add stuffing and gravy. Carefully put the slices together and spread half the butter on top of the sandwich. Flip the sandwich onto a panini maker/grill pan/skillet/etc. Butter side down, then butter the other side. Grill until golden brown. If you’re using a grill pan or skillet, use another heavy skillet to press down on the sandwich while cooking one side, then flip and repeat.
Adapted from https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ree-drummond/leftover-thanksgiving-panini-2250042
Thanksgiving Shepherd’s Pie
Serves: 4
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup onion, diced
1 cup carrot, chopped
1 cup peas
1 cup mushrooms
3 cups turkey, cooked, diced
½ teaspoon dried thyme
½ teaspoon dried parsley
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
1 cup gravy
½ cup heavy cream
4 cups mashed potato (can use sweet potatoes to make it sweet and savory)
Cooking spray, as needed
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Grease baking dish or ramekins and set aside. Add butter to a large pot and brown onions and carrots (~5 minutes on medium, until tender). Add mushrooms and peas and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Mix in turkey, salt, pepper, parsley, and thyme until well-combined. Then add gravy and heavy cream, turn down the heat to low, and cook for 5 more minutes. Scoop into prepared baking dish/ramekins and top with mashed potatoes. Spray a little cooking spray on top and bake on a baking sheet for 10-15 minutes until lightly browned and bubbling.
Adapted from https://tasty.co/recipe/thanksgiving-leftovers-shepherd-s-pie
Thanksgiving Turkey Soup - with (Optional) Stuffing Dumplings
Ingredients for soup:
Turkey bones/carcass (about 1½ pounds) without skin
8 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 head garlic, halved crosswise
2 bay leaves
2 sprigs fresh thyme
2 cups diced skinless turkey meat (white or dark meat)
½ pound green beans, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces**
2 cups frozen corn kernels**
1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut into ½-inch dice**
1 cup small dry pasta shape, such as ditalini
¼ cup loosely packed fresh dill sprigs, chopped
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
Salt to taste
**Cooked leftover veggies can also be used here.
Ingredients for dumplings:
2 large eggs
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour, plus more as needed
2 cups stuffing
½ teaspoon salt
Ground black pepper to taste
Instructions for dumpling prep:
Whisk eggs, flour, salt, and some black pepper (to your taste) together in a small bowl. Add stuffing and mix well. Roll large tablespoons of the stuffing mixture into balls. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside.
Instructions for soup:
Note before adding bones that if you don’t have a strainer, try using something like a cheese cloth (found in most grocery stores) to wrap the bones and herbs together so they’re easy to remove.
Add turkey bones, chicken broth, garlic, bay leaves, and thyme to a large pot and cover with water by an inch. Bring the water to a boil, then turn heat to low and simmer (uncovered) for 40 minutes. Strain out the solids and discard. Save about two cups of the broth, and put the rest back in the pot. This is to make sure there’s enough room for the other ingredients. If there’s too little broth at the end, add it back in. If there is enough, use the broth for something else (keeps for 3 days refrigerated or 1 month frozen). Raise the heat to medium and add turkey meat. If you’re using uncooked green bean, corn, or sweet potatoes, add them now and cook for 15 minutes. Add the pasta and dill and cook uncovered for 7-8 minutes. At this point, start adding the dumplings and cook for 3-4 minutes until they float. Add cooked veggies now if using leftovers. Simmer for another minute or two. Serve hot.
Adapted from
https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchen/day-after-turkey-soup-3361709
https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/turkey-vegetable-soup-with-stuffing-dumplings-recipe-2102980