Magic Trick

So today I did a magic trick and turned Chinese food into Italian food. Sounds impossible? Or disgusting? It was delicious!

So I know that Chinese food makes great leftovers, and I am not arguing with that, but I don’t like eating the same over and over again because I get bored. Last night my mom and I ordered Chinese food delivered – dumplings, chicken and broccoli and a noodle dish called Chow Fun. It was delicious, and there was plenty left over.

When I was rummaging through my parents’ empty shelves today for something for lunch, I saw some whole wheat pasta and immediately thought I could combine that with the left over chicken and broccoli for a tasty, semi-healthy lunch. I also saw half of a beef steak tomato and decided to include that for a little pop of color and some freshness. Before I knew it, I was adding rosemary olive oil and Parmesan cheese for an Italian lunch.

While this would not work well for all Chinese leftovers, it worked great for one of my favorite Chinese food choices. Since the chicken and broccoli is is just sauteed in a garlic white wine sauce, it is basically Italian food in hiding. It was fun to be creative with my leftovers and even added some of the whole wheat pasta to the Chow Fun for my mom’s lunch as well. It was a great way to stretch leftovers and make a less-healthy Chinese noodle dish a little better for you.

What are your tips for being creative with leftovers?