Eating leftovers is not everyone's cup of tea. But quite often you can upcycle leftovers into some pretty stunning, original lunch meals that look & taste like you've been slaving away for hours. The trick?
SAUCE
Having a delicious sauce in your fridge can transform your cold, sorry-looking leftovers into a lunch meal worthy of a spot at a hotel buffet.
This sauce is my favourite because it's really versatile and goes with almost all vegetable and protein combinations.
Asian Almond Sauce (makes about 5 servings) 1/4 cup almond butter** 1/2 cup water 40 mls apple cider vinegar 1 clove garlic (definitely put in) & 1 small piece of ginger (optional but great if you're using the sauce for fish dishes) 1.5 Tbsp soy sauce (OR FOR THOSE LOOKING TO AVOID WHEAT: Braggs Aminos) 1 Tbsp sesame oil pinch of chili flakes (if you want it spicy)
Mix all the ingredients together in one of those mini whizzers and store in an air-tight container in the fridge. If you want it a bit more/less runny, just adjust the water. Serving size should be about 2 TBSP.
**Just as a note: I haven't recommended an almond butter to purchase because a lot of them use palm oil. Palm oil growers & producers are committing genocide on the ancestral forests of Asia and their elephant and orangutan populations. It's OBSCENE. Please read your labels and boycott all palm oil products. It's easy to make your own almond butter. All you need are almonds and a food processor (e.g. Magimix, Cuisinart). Here's the recipe.
HOW TO SAUCE IT
Say you have a lot of leftover broccoli? Add cherry tomatoes, a bit of raw pepper, some leftover roasted chicken and SAUCE IT!
Leftover salmon? Add some sliced carrot, cabbage, yellow pepper and SAUCE IT!
Made too much butternut squash last night and you don't know what to do with it? Add some baby spinach, tomatoes and 1/2 cup of cooked chickpeas (from a tin is acceptable - just rinse well) and SAUCE IT!
You will never believe you're having leftovers and the benefits are inspiring:
- First of all you've made this lunch and know exactly what's in it - that's already worth a A LOT;
- Second - using a yummy sauce is the fastest, most effective way to kickstart vegetable cravings. And more vegetables in your diet means more enzymes, vitamins, antioxidants & fibre.
- Third - filling up on vegetables also means you're eating less carbs (or none at all). And generally that means your blood sugar levels will remain more stable and that means:
NO AFTERNOON SLUMP!!
No more struggling to keep your eyes open between 2-3pm.
No need for that afternoon coffee or soda.
No secret naps in the office toilet.
A delicious, nutritious sauce that will make you look forward to lunch, save you money and keep you energized for the rest of the day.
Doesn't the thought of that just feel SO RIGHT?
Thrive Nutrition Practice launches Spring 2016