Food Tuesday: Chinese Leftovers

What a better way to start off a year of Food Tuesdays than with leftovers---from 2011! I could try to make some sort of excuse for why today's entree isn't particularly stunning, but the reality is that I end up making this once or twice a month, so I'm not apologizing for it. It's good, it's resourceful, and it involves lots of veggies. So there.

There aren't very many lunchtime food options around my library. In fact, I can think of one place within a 30-minute-lunch-break driving distance, and three places that deliver. Of those delivery restaurants, the Chinese place is where my fellow staffers and I order from most. On occasional Fridays someone will suggest ordering Chinese food for lunch. Pretty soon three, four, five of us have opted in, writing our orders on a piece of scrap paper. I always get the same thing: L11, the lunch-size portion of beef and broccoli, with steamed rice and an egg roll.

The lunch-size portion is still pretty huge, so after eating the egg roll I only eat about half of the main bowl--except I'll eat all of the vegetables, leaving just half of the rice and beef. Voila, leftovers! When I get around to making the leftovers for my dinner some evening, I have two pans on the stove: one to reheat the rice and beef, drizzled with a bit of sesame oil and low sodium soy sauce; and one to steam more fresh veggies. I mix them up at the end to unify the whole dish. The end result is a tasty, partially-fried rice-based beef and broccoli chock full of veggies--often even more veggies than were in the original, since I can buy and add whatever I like. Filling, pretty healthful, and not a bit wasteful.

I know doctored-up leftover Chinese food isn't the most glamorous of dishes, but it's a realistic one that I can guarantee you I'll be eating at least a handful of times in the coming year. And I look forward to it.