Leftovers = Lunch Lifesaver

Does this ever happen to you?

It’s almost lunch time and chicken alfredo is sounding more enticing by the moment. To justify the craving, a Caesar salad starts to sound good too. You look in the fridge and see odds and ends that look nothing like the creamy Italian goodness that is stuck in your brain. You see:

• 1/3 head of cauliflower

• Some chicken bone broth

• ½ cooked spaghetti squash

• Leftover crockpot chicken

• Few leaves of washed kale

• Lemon

• Avocado

• Chickpea Miso

• Garlic

What possibly could come from this?

Chicken Alfredo and Caesar Salad 2.0

…or Chicken Caulifredo and Kan’t Get Enough Kale Salad

This is what Cook 2 Flourish Cookbook is ALL about: inspiring you with recipes using the foods you have at home to recreate the foods you crave without feeling guilty or like you need a nap afterwards!

Normally I don't do dairy, and today I was especially not going to use any since I have been getting over a head cold (dairy makes me more congested). Something warm and comforting or soup-like sounded good. I would have gone for a soup, but there was not enough chicken broth. Caulifredo only needs a little broth (or almond milk), so that was the direction I went. This is liberating in the kitchen when you can see the ingredients you have and create your recipes from your availabilty. Hopefully this post will be an inspiration to you...

With the ingredients above, all I did was:

1. Boil and cover the cauliflower florets (chopped in ½) in the chicken broth with 2 garlic cloves.

2. Meanwhile, I scooped out the spaghetti squash and measured out the chicken that I needed and set it aside.

3. In a salad bowl, I tore the kale into bite sized pieces and removed the stalk (freeze for a smoothie). I cut the lemon and squeezed about ½ Tablespoon into the kale, spooned out about ½ Tablespoon of chickpea miso (or you can use tahini), 1/8 avocado, and 1 pressed garlic clove. With my hands I massaged the kale with the “dressing” ingredients until it was slightly wilted and well coated.

4. By this time the cauliflower and garlic were tender, so the florets went into my blender with ¼ cup or so of the broth and pureed it. The extra broth that was in the pan I poured into a cup and drank it 😉 Or, you could save it for another use like cooking green beans later. In the pan I put the caulifredo puree, chicken and spaghetti squash. Add a dash of REAL® salt, pepper and parsley, and put it in a bowl as soon as it is hot to your liking.

So there you have it, my friends, a delicious story of how leftovers became the answer to a craving!

For the full recipes, open Cook 2 Flourish Cookbook to p.255 for the Caulifredo sauce and p.110 Kan't Get Enough Kale Salad. Happy cooking! :)