Revamping Your Leftovers

Everyone has their likes and dislikes about leftovers.  Either it's enough to feed 1 mouth or not enough to feed 3 hungry mouths.  But this is where you dive into your creative side of cooking.  Even if you don't have that, everyone is creative with their appetite.  When your tummy starts grumbling and wants you to put something in your belly, you start to imagine what will satisfy your taste buds.  You want to fill that void of hunger and make some use of your leftovers before they get thrown into the garbage.  There's no need to waste food if there are people who can't afford to eat a meal everyday (just saying).

So, what I had in my fridge was roughly 2 cups of white rice and 1 strip of pork belly.  Luckily, I did a quick run to the supermarket to pick up some essential produce that I always have in stock.  I ended up making torta (tour-tah) or an omelette with ground beef and fried rice with vegetables.

Torta (on left) and fried rice with veggies (on right)

This is how I revamped my leftovers.  Enjoy virtually feeding your belly with these 2 simple dishes.

INGREDIENTS:

TORTA

*My Lola (or "grandmother" in Tagalog which is the native tongue of the Philippines) would make this dish all the time.  This was her signature dish on Saturday or Sunday morning when I was a kid.  It was simple and filling but not enough for everyone to have seconds because it was just that good.

Leftover cooked ground beef

2-3 eggs

Dash of milk

salt & pepper

olive oil

STEP ONE: In a pan over medium heat, drizzle olive oil and add your ground beef to re-cook.  You can microwave it if you prefer, but I think "cooking" it in the pan will season the oil and add flavor to the eggs.This should only take 5 minutes or until the beef looks thawed if removed straight from the refrigerator.

STEP TWO: In a separate bowl, whisk your eggs together.  Add a dash of milk then add salt and pepper.

STEP THREE: Pour the egg mixture into your beef pan.  Mix the egg and beef with a rubber spatula.  Once the sides are starting to harden a bit, use your spatula to lift the sides and tilt the pan a little so that the liquid in the middle can spill out to the sides.  To make sure the top of your omelette is cooked, you can put a lid on your pan.

FRIED RICE with VEGGIES

2 cups (approx.) cooked white rice (or whatever leftover rice you have)

Leftover pork (or whatever meat you have), diced

1 cup onions, chopped

1 cup carrots, julienne (cut thinly into strips)

1 cup green peppers, chopped

1 cup mushrooms, chopped

2 garlic cloves

salt & pepper (for taste)

olive oil

STEP ONE: Drizzle olive oil onto your pan over medium heat.  Saute veggies.  Add meat once veggies have softened.

STEP TWO: Add rice and cook for about 20 minutes mixing every few minutes until the rice starts to brown a bit in the bottom.

Serve warm and enjoy these revamped dishes!