The Single Woman's Leftover Dilemma

Stuffed Zucchini

One of the things that always happens to me is leftovers. This is no surprise because cooking for one is a delicate walk between not wanting to cook at all and eating out or cooking and having to eat the same thing over and over again. The thing with me is that I don't mind eating the same thing over and over again. The repetitive eating is actually one of my coping mechanisms for singledom. I make one pot of food and I eat it for lunch over the week. Sometimes, I do that for dinner as well.

However since Ramadan started and I am only eating twice a day, I really feel like I ought savor the food I am eating. So I have taken to cooking every night. My Suhoor meal is pretty much the same thing each time because I treat is as a functional meal. For Suhoor or the pre-dawn meal, I eat overnight soaked oats. By the time Ramadan is done, I will be glad to go back to my smoothies and breakfast pizzas.

Until then, I focus on the Iftar or my dinner. A couple of post back, I mentioned that I made mushroom mince. The mushroom mince was enough for 4 people so I had leftovers. Instead of crying though, I came up with different ways to use it up. These are not really recipes but rather a way of looking at leftovers. I focused on making sure the meatiness of the mushrooms. Also, I wanted options that required little prep work because I am tired after fasting all day. Oh! Forgive me for the bad pictures, I am finding it hard taking pictures of my Iftar meal because the light is down by then. Kitchen light/ artificial light just never does food any justice.

Asparagus and Mushroom Frittata

For the first option, I added layered in the mushroom mince on a bed of leftover roasted asparagus in a pyrex dish. Then, I poured in 3 whole eggs that I whisked together with salt and pepper. Topped the mixture with thick slices of provolone cheese and grated parmesan. I baked it at 400F for about 20 minutes until the egg was set and puffed up. I also put it under the broiler to get some color and crispiness on the cheese.

Stuffed Zucchini

The second option was actually my dinner tonight. I cut a zucchini horizontal. Then I hollowed out the middle to form a boat. I chopped up the top part i had cut up and stuffed it into the hollowed out middle. This was then topped with the last of the mushroom mince. This was baked in the oven at 350F for 20 minutes. When the zucchini was tender to the fork, I topped it with slices of cheese and put it under a broiler. This was actually better than I expected it to be.