My recent visit to Kuma’s Corner got me thinking about something near and dear to my heart; leftovers. Most restaurants serve portions that are far too big to finish, but I can not let food go to waste. Also, as a girl on a budget, it’s great to take care of two meals with one bill. So not only am I going to recommend Kuma’s Corner but I’ve developed some tips on how to best enjoy great meals the second time around.
I think one of the most popular leftover foods is Chinese food. Whether you get delivery or go out to eat, it’s easy to take leftovers home in cute white boxes. My favorite simple tip for reheating these leftovers is to place a damp napkin or paper towel over the open container in a microwave. This will re-hydrate your leftovers and really perk up the flavor as you heat it.
Pizza in another very popular leftover. Now, if you are like me, you prefer this day old delight cold. However I know many folks like to recreate the “fresh out of the oven” warmth. The microwave can create a soggy mess so the obvious answer is to pop your slice in the oven and let it warm up. This can take up to 20 minutes for the oven to heat up and cook your slice. Personally, I like to crisp up my pizza slice on a regular skillet on the stove top. Add a drizzle of olive oil to the skillet and you are ready in less than 10 minutes!
So many restaurants serve enormous salads now, and it’s tough to get the same freshness the next day. My trick has been to remove the salad from the take out container once you return home, and seal the leftovers in a Ziploc bag. I even occasionally add some extra lettuce or spinach to the bag to help absorb any extra dressing to avoid soggy leftovers.
And I had to throw this in there, left over hamburgers (works for other sandwiches as well). Kuma’s serves up delicious, yet huge, burgers so mine was cut in half before even attempting to eat it. To prepare my leftovers for the trip home I tried something new. I removed the bun from the burger and kept it separate from the burger with a napkin. That way, the bun didn’t become mushy with condiments. During the reheat process I did use my oven to reheat the burger and toast up the bun again. It was absolutely perfect!
Of course there are many other foods that work well as leftovers; pastas, chicken, steaks and more, just be careful about handling your food. Pay attention to how long you keep leftovers, some foods go bad quicker than you would expect. I recommend enjoying your leftovers as soon as possible to get the most flavor out of your meal.
