Butter Chicken, Re-Invented

The other night, I was feeling lazy about dinner, so I made the Butter Chicken sauce found here (about halfway down the page) and then I defrosted, rinsed, and pulled the tails off a handful of frozen pre-cooked shrimp and added them to the sauce to warm through. I also made rice and some simple steamed veggies.

We ate most of the supper that night and I ended up with just one portion of Butter Chicken Shrimp leftover in the fridge, no veggies or rice.

The next day for lunch, I realized that I had a few fresh veggies, frozen peas, and the leftover curry. Once the curry was heated up, the veggies chopped, and the peas warmed in hot water, lunch was ready!

It was... surprisingly GREAT!!  It was very simple, just peas, cucumber, red pepper, and cilantro with the curry.  More than that, it was a revolutionary idea for me - a salad can be a salad like this and it could work with almost ANY kind of meat or saucy meaty leftovers!

I could see it working with spaghetti sauce or chilli on a bed of corn, celery, bell peppers, and a little onion.  Curry would also work with apples and leafy greens.  Alfredo or creamy cheesy sauces could work with gently steamed broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage.  

The ideas are as endless as your roving list of leftovers!  Lentils and beans could be used in the salad as well as whole steamed grains, like quinoa or barley.  

The idea that just a small amount of leftovers can be re-invented into something healthy, hearty, and new is an exciting thought!

I'm off to discover what is leftover in the fridge and see where lunch might take me today!