Leftovers Your Hot Weather Friends

Heat waves are unbearable. Eating is a chore. Cooking more so. What do you do when it's hot as Hades out there and you're hungry. Go the leftover route. It's easy to forage together something that can be easily microwaved.

The other day I made spaghetti con salsa crudo (see Saturday's pictorial) .It was an easy cook. Chop tomatoes, half an onion and some garlic cloves, mix with olive oil and spices - and voila - easy sauce. Boil some spaghetti  , pour the sauce over it and it's dinner. There was another reason I wanted to make it - leftovers  that can be repurposed into entirely new dishes. The salsa crudo, became bruschetta when it was spooned onto rounds of Italian bread. It proved to be a great Sunday supper , easy and delicious especially on a blazing day. There was a lot of leftover plain pasta.It was repurposed into a microwave pasta con burro. All it took was just a few knobs of vegan butter, pressed garlic and a generous sprinkling of sea salt and freshly ground pepper. One dish led to two easy to make meals.Make it with rotelli, or corkscrew pasta, then turn the leftover pasta into a salad, with the addition of a vinaigrette, chopped peppers, celery and grape tomatoes. As for the salsa crudo, it would go well over a grilled steak or chilled shrimp .

Other leftovers can be reused into new tasty and simple dishes. Grilled steaks can be cut up and added to a green salad for filling meal.They can also top a pizza  or be added to a sauce.The same is true for barbecued chicken. Shred and add to any kind of salad. Cold bean and pasta salads are always easy to whip up.Create a more nutritious leftover by adding a can of salmon or tuna. This a great lunch or dinner,  - flavorful and cold  - perfect for a sweltering day. Serve with grissini, the ultra thin Piedmontese bread sticks. Those leftover hot dog and hamburger buns can be stuffed with a variety of different fillings. Hard boil some eggs and mix with mayo and chopped celery  to create a summery version of the classic Stuff the rolls with these and serve with potato chips for an super easy dinner. Create a variation of a lobster roll with precooked crab meat from your grocery store.Mix it with mayo and scallions for a twist and serve on a toasted hot dog bun. You could also use hot dog and hamburger rolls for breakfast sandwiches, Layer, cheese easy to make scrambled eggs and microwavable sausage links and patties for an easy first meal.

Take it easy  during a heat wave.  Create simple meals  that can be turned into easier lunches and dinners. Don't sweat - literally - over what to make.