When it comes time to deal with the ghosts of dinners past, the first question that comes to mind is “What do I do with this?” followed quickly by “Do I really want to eat this again?”

Leftovers don’t have to mean rewarmed repeats.  You can take your Rubbermaid remnants and craft them into new and interesting meals.  Whereas our grandparents and those that came before them were schooled thoroughly in the art of getting the most mileage out of a meal, as a culture we’ve lost the touch when it comes to culinary re-runs.

Cold meats are a brown-bagger’s best friend.  Yesterday’s pork picnic shoulder is tomorrow’s Cuban sandwich.  Slice cold roasts thin for lunch meats – they’ll compete with the most expensive deli cuts, and are way better than the pressed, reconstituted stuff.  Everyone in the US is familiar with the leftover turkey sandwich post-Thanksgiving.  Why not use all your leftover meats with the same utility?  Serve cold pork loin with spicy mustard, pickles, and manchego cheese.  Rare and medium-rare roast beef is perfect with onions, Ementhaler cheese, and horseradish.

And why stop there?  Another great use for miscellanous meat and fish is as cold salads.  Leftover ham can be run through a meat grinder with a fine grind plate, and made into ham salad with the addition of some pickle relish, mayo, and diced celery.  Have leftover fish?  Flake up that salmon, cod, or other whitefish, and spice up a yogurt or mayo-based dressing with citrus zest, coriander, dill, or crab seasoning.  Serve any of these on bread, or with mixed greens and fruit.

Chicken is great for next-day culinary experiments.  De-bone leftover baked/roast poultry and reheat in a pan with a little oil, then toss with a bit of honey, rice wine vinegar, orange marmalade, sesame seeds, and red chili pepper – ersatz Szechuan Orange Chicken, just add some fresh rice.  Chop deboned and de-skinned thighs or breasts into a fine dice, add some raisins, slivered almonds, mayo and any one of: curry powder, dill weed, fresh tarragon, or lemon zest & sesame seeds.  Serve as you would any other cold salad.

Leftover salads can be re-spiffied with fresh greens, provided the veggies haven’t gone completely south.  Cooked vegetables can be recombined with other ingredients for maximum versatility.  One of my favorite uses for last night’s Chinese takeout (especially shrimp & veg stir-fries) is to re-saute the meat and vegetables with a little olive oil and garlic and serve over freshly prepared pasta.  Precooked hard vegetables also go great in soups.

Just a little bit of creativity reduces your food waste, maximizes your grocery budget, and banishes the boredom of the rewarmed plastic tub.