After the big Christmas feast, many people still have food and prepared dishes left over from the festive season. In order not to throw anything away, but at the same time to no longer have to indulge in the gluttony of holiday roasts, dumplings and other hearty dishes, it is recommended to experiment with the individual ingredients of the holiday dishes – and conjure up new, varied dishes.
Of course, the prerequisite for this is that the leftover food is stored correctly and is still fresh. You can safely avoid an upset stomach after the holidays. Be particularly careful with meat and fish dishes. They should have been stored in a cool place without interruption after Christmas dinner and should be odorless and visually flawless. If in doubt, the following applies: dispose of it. For other foods for which they are not immediately used, freezing is also an option.
The typical holiday roast as well as goose, duck or pork can be finely sliced and used as a topping for bread or as an addition to soups and salads. How about, for example, an aromatic roast sandwich with avocado cream, tomatoes and rocket? Also delicious: Cut the poultry finely and process it with lettuce, garlic, ginger, chili and peanut sauce to make an exotic Thai salad.
Do you still have sausages and potato salad left? A hearty sausage goulash, gratin or a vegetable stew with Viennese spice up the meat dish.
Be particularly careful with fish and seafood. Smoked fish dishes such as trout or salmon are the least harmful and can be ideally used in both warm and cold dishes. If you don’t just want to eat the fish with bread for brunch, you can also prepare tasty wraps, salads or a delicious Poké Bowl. For main courses, smoked salmon can be used in pasta dishes, on tarte flambée or in a hearty ceviche. Can’t stand the shape of the fish anymore? A great change are delicious dips with yogurt, horseradish or cream cheese, which go wonderfully with salmon, trout or seafood.
Potato dishes are a hit during the holidays. Leftover raw potatoes can be made into fried potatoes, French fries or a quick hash brown. Mashed potatoes become a buffer, potato soup and can even be baked into bread. A little puree in the dough makes the pastry particularly fluffy. Dumplings, on the other hand, are baked with Parmesan to make tasty fried meatballs – and the potato dish also cuts a fine figure in a gratin or casserole.
Using rice and pasta couldn’t be easier. They taste great fried with vegetables and soy sauce, added to soups, casseroles or salads and can even be used as the main ingredient in sweet dishes such as rice pudding or noodles. Highly recommended: This quick recipe for red cabbage pasta or delicious cabbage noodles like grandma’s.
Leftover baguette is used in the leftover kitchen to make bread chips, garlic bread and can also be used in a Mediterranean bread salad with tomatoes, mozzarella and basil. If the bread is too old, poor knights, bread casserole or gratinated baguettes are suitable. Additionally, you can use stale bread and baguettes to make breadcrumbs or croutons.
Prepared salads offer little scope, but can provide variety as a topping for bread. If you still have (slightly wilted) lettuce leaves, tomatoes or cucumbers left over, the ingredients can – in addition to being used in a classic salad – also be used as a pesto, spread or addition to soups. The ingredients are even used in smoothies. Prepared with ripe banana, you can hardly taste salad or cucumber. Cooked vegetables can also be used in salads, with pasta or rice, and in casseroles or stews. Also delicious: a vegetable frittata that is particularly tasty with carrots, fennel and zucchini. Typical vegetable side dishes such as red or green cabbage also taste great pureed as a soup and served with sour cream or yoghurt. Fruit side dishes should be the least of your problems as tangerines, apples etc. usually have a long shelf life anyway. Ready-made fruit salads or compotes can be enjoyed with yogurt or ice cream or saved from spoiling as an ingredient in a smoothie.
Raclette is one of the absolute Christmas classics. If you have bought too much cheese, you don’t need to worry too much at first. It naturally lasts for some time in the refrigerator anyway. However, cheese that has been left outside all evening can be used in casseroles. If you have very large quantities, you can conjure up a cheese fondue straight away – to do this, grate the cheese, add it to hot white wine and let it melt over medium heat while stirring. If you also have a lot of gherkins, corn, silver onions and ham cubes left over, you can use them together with the cheese to make a casserole, a tasty farmer’s breakfast or on a pizza.
Believe it or not: Chocolate Santa Claus, Stollen and Speculoos can also come out of your ears after the holidays. New variations provide a solution. Chocolate Santa Clauses can be melted down and made into cold dogs, chocolates, chocolate crossies or chocolate fruits. Stollen can be used to make a crumble, and sweet dumplings from the pastry also taste great. Dry speculoos takes on new splendor in a layered dessert, as tiramisu or in cake. And opened baking ingredients such as ground nuts can be used in nut wedges, granola or bread.
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