It's The Day of the Turkey (at least here in the US) and we all know there will be leftovers. Since I can only eat so many TLTs (Turkey, Lettuce, and Tomato sandwiches), I've come up with some easy recipes and ideas so all that tasty bird doesn't go bad. If you want, leave me a comment with some other ideas for Thanksgiving leftovers.
1. Turkey Cranberry Rollup
You can do this as a sandwich, too, but I prefer it in a tortilla. Spread some cranberry sauce, put some turkey on top of it, and roll. It has all the flavor of Thanksgiving with almost none of the work.
2. Turkey Chili
I love to throw together a chili. Anymore, I don't even use a recipe, just some broth (chicken or beef, depending on what flavor I'm going for), some beans (usually kidney, but sometimes black, pinto, or even garbanzo), sometimes corn, some diced tomatoes in sauce, and tomato sauce if I want it thicker. I definitely add some onions and sometimes garlic, then salsa and chili powder, and then I put in whatever kind of meat I'm using that day. It's as easy to put turkey in as anything else, and the bird doesn't do much to change the taste.
3. Turkey and Noodles
Cook up some egg noodles. For a sauce, heat up some creamy soup (cream of mushroom, cream of celery, etc..) and add some turkey and browned onions. Put the turkey topping over the noodles and serve. Most of the time, no one besides you will realize that the meat is even turkey!
4. Turkey Fajitas
Warm up the turkey and serve it instead of chicken or beef with grilled, sliced peppers and grilled onions. Add them all to a tortilla with toppings of your choice and eat.
5. Turkey Lentil Stew
Soak your lentils until they are soft. Cook them in water with some garlic, thyme, salt, and a bay leaf until the lentils have made something of a mushy mess. Add the turkey and make sure it's all heated through.
6. Turkey Stir Fry
It took me a little while to be willing to try this one as turkey is not a meat that comes to mind when I think of stir fry. Out of desperation for something new, I finally made an attempt, and it's actually good. Soak the already-cooked turkey in the stir-fry marinade or topping of your choice. Stir fry your vegetables (I usually use a frozen mixture). Add the turkey near the end, so it has a chance to heat up but not dry out. Eat over rice or Japanese noodles.
7. Turkey Stew
Mix chicken broth with chunks of carrot, onion, potato, celery and whatever vegetables mean "stew" to you. Add some parsley, thyme, a bay leaf or two, salt and pepper to taste, and maybe some oregano for something a little different. Bring the broth with the veggies to a boil and let it boil for about 10 minutes. Add the turkey and continue to boil it until the vegetables are soft. Serve with salad and/or sourdough bread for the Panera effect.
8. Turkey Burritos
Put in turkey with the refried beans, cheese, salsa, guacamole, and whatever else makes a burrito for you. Roll up the tortilla. Heat, eat, and enjoy!
9. Turkey Pad Thai
Ok, I have a confession here--I usually buy my pad thai from Trader Joes. I'll heat it up, add any extra meat or veggies that I want, use their sauce, and serve it...even to guests! When I have turkey around, that's the meat I add and it's pretty tasty. If you're worried about the turkey taste mixing poorly with the Thai spices, press some mashed up fresh garlic into the turkey several hours before you cook and let it sit in a bag or another closed container until you're ready to use it. The garlic should overpower the turkey taste so your pad thai will be yummy, like usual.
10. Freeze it
Amazingly enough, cooked turkey survives freezing fairly well. It comes out pretty dry, so I try to use it in soups or cassaroles when I use it later, but it's still tasty and good. The best part is that I can eat it at some future point when I'm not totally sick of turkey.