Lots of "leftovers" what to make?

July 5, 2009 3:17 PM

I'm going to have a bunch of ingredients left over from another recipe. What can I make?

I bought too much for the recipe (veggie heavy turkey meatloaf) I'm making and I'm going to have a lot of left over veggies. I also have some beef patties I won't get a chance to grill, so I was thinking of using the ground beef in something else. But I need ideas.

Here is what I have: half a zuccini, half a yellow squash, a couple carrots, about a cup baby portabella mushroom slices, onions, garlic, celery, black beans, parsley, oatmeal. And 4 angus beef patties.

I only have a modestly stocked pantry, but I do have things like tomato sauce, pasta, common herbs and spices (oregano, thyme, cumin, etc . . .)

Bonus points if its something that will freeze well.

I was kind of thinking of throwing everything in a slowcooker with tomato sauce but I have no idea if that would be a horrible horrible mistake - so suggestions welcome!

posted by [insert clever name here] to food & drink (13 comments total)

1) Portobello. Ahem.

2) Just freeze the beef patties; preformed (presumably?) ground beef isn't all that good for breaking up and using in another way unless you re-grind.

3) I'd roast or grill the zucchini and squash. Salt, pepper, olive oil. Nothing else needed.

4) Save the carrots for a mirepoix, ditto onions.

5) Grill the mushrooms with the zucchini.

Alternately, make a duxelle of the mushrooms and serve that with the grilled/roasted veg.

OATMEAL IS FOR BREAKFAST! Or cookies.
posted by dirtynumbangelboy at 3:28 PM on July 5

That wouldn't be a horrible mistake. Break up the patties and brown the beef, and throw all of the ingredients (minus the oatmeal and possibly minus the black beans) into the slow cooker with tomato sauce for a veggie-heavy pasta sauce.

Alternatively, if you have some broth or even bouillon cubes, throw all (minus the oatmeal) into the slow cooker with cumin and other mexican-ish spices for a mexican soup/quasi-taco soup type of concoction.
posted by necessitas at 3:36 PM on July 5 [2 favorites]

I'm really getting slammed with vegetables now from a CSA, so you've come to the right place...

* I have a REALLY good recipe for Nachitoches meat pies which would use only about half a pound of the beef at one time, plus some really basic other ingredients (half an onion, half a green pepper, a chopped tomato/some tomato paste; and you can either make up a pie crust on your own or use pre-made pie crusts from the supermarket). It makes 12 little hand-held spicy meat pies. If you're interested, memail me and I"ll send you the recipe.

* The black beans, onions, and garlic would be great in a black bean chili -- round it out with some chorizo sausage or sweet Italian sausage (depending on your spice threshold), or some of the ground beef. Or, hell, use both Italian sausage AND beef, depending on how big a pot you want to make. You'll also need canned tomatoes and maybe a cup or two of frozen corn.

* I've made a great omlette filling out of sliced mushrooms -- saute them with a little butter and dill, then add a splash of sherry and let that cook down. Turn that out into a bowl and add a couple spoonfulls of sour cream, then use that all as an omelette filling.

* Speaking of sour cream, you can also use the mushrooms and ground beef for beef stroganoff. The onion would also work in there too -- the only other thing you'll probably need would be sour cream and paprika. Serve over plain buttered noodles.

* Use the zucchini and yellow squash sliced as pizza toppings. You can make your own pizza dough -- it's super-easy (again, if you want the recipe, memail me), and if you like a thin crust, you don't even need to let it rise.

* A quick carrot salad couldn't be simpler -- grate the carrots and add just enough viniagrette to hold it together.

* Pasta primavera would take care of all the vegetable matter -- slice up the carrots, celery, zucchini, and squash, and steam them all for a couple minutes; set that aside. Saute the mushrooms a bit. Then chop up one tomato, let that simmer in a pot with a little chopped onion or garlic, then dump in all the steamed vegetables just long enough to let that all warm up together. Toss all that with a pound of cooked pasta. Use a little of the parsley on top as well. (The great thing about pasta primavera, by the way, is that you can literally use any kind of vegetable you want.)
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 3:44 PM on July 5 [2 favorites]

Sounds like a heck of a soup you have there.
posted by rokusan at 3:45 PM on July 5

Is there enough of all necessary ingredients to just make a second meatloaf? They freeze well, and only need a few hours' worth of thawing before cooking.
posted by elizardbits at 3:45 PM on July 5 [1 favorite]

half a zuccini, half a yellow squash, a couple carrots, about a cup baby portabella mushroom slices, onions, garlic, celery, black beans, parsley

This soup could take care of those ingredients.
posted by Meg_Murry at 3:56 PM on July 5

Grilled squash, zucchini, carrots, mushrooms, onions, garlic, parsley and ground beef sounds like a pretty good pasta sauce or a lasagna.
posted by electroboy at 4:04 PM on July 5

elizardbits: "Is there enough of all necessary ingredients to just make a second meatloaf? They freeze well, and only need a few hours' worth of thawing before cooking."

I was thinking of that too. My wife found an awesome recipe for meatloaf the other day. You make the meatloaf in muffin tins so that you portion them correctly and get a little better browning on the whole mess. She added some ingredients to give it an Italian inspired taste. I eat like 6 of em at a pop now when she makes them

Grill up some of the veggies as a side for the little meatloafs or make a zucchini corn fritter

You could make a Black Bean Dip.

Use some of that oatmeal for No Bake Cookies if you are not allergic to peanut butter or cocoa.
posted by Gravitus at 4:08 PM on July 5

[insert clever name here]: half a zuccini, half a yellow squash, a couple carrots, about a cup baby portabella mushroom slices, onions, garlic, celery, tomato sauce, pasta, common herbs and spices (oregano, thyme, cumin, etc . . .)

Bonus points if its something that will freeze well.

Crumble the beef patties, grate the carrots, and make summer spaghetti sauce with all of that. It will be spectacular.
posted by DarlingBri at 4:11 PM on July 5

I'd go with potpie if I were you, chop it all up, mix it with a bit of cream of chicken or mushroom, put it in a pie crust and bake at 350* for about an hour. Enjoy!
posted by julie_of_the_jungle at 4:39 PM on July 5

Salisbury Steak

Make patties out of the beef, you can put some oatmeal in the patties. Pan fry the patties. Saute the veggies and mushroom in the pan drippings. Remove the veggies. Make a brown sauce out of the drippings left in the pan, add some chopped mushroom. Serve the sauce over the patties and vegetables. Season as you like, I usually just use salt and pepper.

You can find scads of recipes on the web for Salisbury Steak. I usually just improvise with what I have at hand.

Not sure what to do with the black beans. But you could serve them on the side. I love plain beans.
posted by fifilaru at 4:41 PM on July 5

I would go out and buy tortillas, then cook the veg briefly in a smoking hot pan, and put it and the beans in the tortillas and call it some sort of fajita or burrito. Maybe with a little rice, lettuce, and cheddar cheese if you're feeling more burrito-ish. Probably you could put the beef in too? This vegetarian has no idea. But the veg there does make for awesome fajita-style things.
posted by kmennie at 4:42 PM on July 5 [1 favorite]

My too-busy-to-shop fridge and I are envious.
posted by SaharaRose at 8:59 AM on July 7