This is the story of how I made a sweet potato and chickpea salad for lunch one day, and then pimped the leftovers over the next few days to create several reincarnations, the end result being a dip.
This is quite a typical cycle of events in my kitchen, one dish becomes another, and the flavours develop and deepen, and it ends up being a million miles away from its starting form…so I thought I’d share the steps with you…almost like a window into my culinary brain…!!
So this was the starting point…the sweet potato, chickpea and herbs salad..
Chunks of sweet potato, skin on, steamed and cooled
Chickpeas, a jar or can drained and washed
Chopped parsley, a small bunch, leaves stripped from the stalks and roughly chopped
Chopped coriander, a small bunch, leaves stripped from the stalks and roughly chopped
3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
Goats cheese, chopped into small cubes
Paprika, 1-2 tsp
Aleppo chilli flakes, 1/2 tsp
Roasted ground cumin, 1-2 tsp
Olive oil, 2-3 tbsp
Lemon juice, 1-2 tbsp
All in a big bowl and stirred well to mix it all together and spread the herbs and spices through the bowl…lovely lovely stuff!
With the leftovers, I prepared what would be the next incarnation…
…I boosted the leftovers with lots more chopped parsley (I had lots to use up!) and added some cooked and cooled mixed grains, and left it to develop for the next day..
…which I ate with lots of lettuce, dried barberries, sesame seeds & dried fried garlic…
With the leftovers of those leftovers…
…I added lots of chopped fresh dill and pomegranate molasses and once again left it all to brew..
…and ate it the next day with more goats cheese, dried barberries & slices of preserved lemon.
With the leftovers of the leftovers of these leftovers…
…I mixed them with lots of thinned yoghurt & more pomegranate molasses to create a different style of ‘salad’…
Very tasty! And it could have so easily all ended there..
But of course, I couldn’t leave it, I just had to try blending some of this into a dip to see how it would taste…
And it worked very well! Just imagine all of those flavours and how they’ve developed over the week, all in a dip, and that’s what I got 🙂 bingo!
Leftovers of leftovers of leftovers…of leftovers!!! 😉
Basically, everything can become something else…or…in the end everything becomes a dip!!!
I hope you’ve all had a good week full of great food and lovely leftovers, see you at fiesta friday…the weekly blog party extraordinaire 🙂
I’m also sharing this post with Corina’s June edition of Cook Once Eat Twice, as I think this perfectly fits the bill! More a case of cook once, eat five times!
You’re quite the magician in the kitchen aren’t you? Love how the salad evolved, amazing! I must look out for pomegranate molasses, I imagine the taste just pops out with a touch of this. I’m sure I’ll be making a lot of *cooler* dishes like these for the next 4 days as we’ve hit temps in the 90’s already.
LikeLiked by 1 person
The temperature has picked up here for the weekend too 🙂
Thank you, I’m glad you like my experimenting xx
LikeLike
And yes, you must try some pomegranate molasses. There’s a similarity to tamarind as its sweet with sour..
LikeLike
What a wonderful way to use and transform leftovers, and leftovers of leftovers and then a dip of all the lovely flavours! Amazing and what a great post! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you 😀😀😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
I also Usenleftoverd but you pimp them well,……yumm! You also pimp the leftovers from leftovers very well,….you are a culinary tasty genius,….I said it before & I Will say it again.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Aw, thank you so very much xxx
LikeLike
This is REALLY an amazing post! I think the problem for me would be amounts, because we both have a pretty hearty appetite, so I would have to start with lots of sweet potatoes, chickpeas, and move from there. 😉
I love the second version with all that parsley, which is a favorite herb with me… (wink wink, visit my next post… wink wink)
the dip of course is the final strike of genius! just thin that with coconut milk and you’ll have a soup! (leftovers to the sixth degree?)
LikeLiked by 1 person
Good thinking!!!
Thank you, I’m glad you like it. To be honest, I don’t do small portions, I just can’t, it’s not in me, so each incarnation was a decent size 🙂
What’s that you say…your next post….;) looking forward to it already xx
LikeLike
Wow, what an amazing transformation of leftovers! Very impressive, Elaine. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you 😀😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yikes! You have me so drooling over here! Bookmarking! 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
😀😀 thank you xx
LikeLike
Love your creative ideas Elaine! Thanks for sharing. Have a great weekend!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, and you 😀😀
LikeLike
Oh what immense food fun!! As I usually just cook for myself and do find it difficult to make only a little’ this series would work beautifully, especially since all the ingredients belong to my ‘favourites’ list! Would not have thought that some would last the week freshness-wise but I am obviously too faint-hearted 🙂 !
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m glad you like it 🙂
I’m the same, I can’t make small amounts!
LikeLike
So here’s foodbod again doing her magic! Awesome, awesome!! I love everything and I love to eat everything especially the leftovers of the leftovers with thinned yogurt & pomegranate molasses. 😀 Thanks for sharing a wonderful & delicious story, Elaine. Happy FF! x
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you darling Jhuls xxx I hope your week is starting well xx
LikeLike
It is. Thanks! You, too! 🙂 x
LikeLiked by 1 person
Everything looks so good, I admire what you do with all the leftovers. Just amazing. Have a superb weekend! 🙂 xx
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you xxx I hope you’re okay xx
LikeLike
I absolutely love, love, love your style!! I know I always say this, but my mouth waters whenever I look at your posts. Everything is so colorful!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Lovely! Thank you xx
LikeLike
This is such a fabulous post and loved the leftovers of leftovers use:)
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you 😀😀😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
This is totally amazing! I love each day and how things changed and became different and even more full of flavors! Yumm
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you 😀😀😀😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
This looks amazing, I love the process of adding flavors and making a new dish, yumm
LikeLiked by 1 person
xxx
LikeLiked by 1 person
Brilliant idea. Thank you for such a lovely share. Bookmarked!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much 😀😀😀
LikeLike
I loved taking this culinary adventure with you and I’m a big fan of how your mind works! The weather here has been 30 degrees for several days and my penchant for salads and meals that require minimal stove time is definitely on the rise too. Adding this to the list! Hope you’ve had a lovely weekend, my friend. 🙂 xo
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much, my lovely friend xxx we started to get some lovely weather but today we have suddenly been plummeted back into autumn!! It’s so chilly!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh no!!! I hope it warms up again very soon! xoxo 🙂 Have a wonderful week!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Honestly, it’s like we’ve been plunged into autumn!!! It’s still dismal 😦
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh no, that’s awful! I wish I could send over some of our 30 degree weather over the pond…I could do with a little less of it, haha. 😉 xoxo
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ooh no, thank you…you can keep that!!! 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
Elaine, You whip magic in your kitchen! So fresh, so colorful and so, so delicious!!! 😛
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much, lovely Fae xx
LikeLike
Elaine, your ingenuity amazes me. Every one of your posts is a flavor explosion!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you x x x
LikeLike
I love how you create lots of different dishes from one – sadly we usually eat too much in the first place and just have one lunch-worth at best but maybe I should try cooking more a bit more often to try some of your ideas 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you 🙂 x
LikeLike
Elaine, I always have a bowl of boiled (whte) chickpeas in my fridge to use in salads etc. etc.
They are so versatile and delicious. Will certainly try one of your own recipes now. Thanks.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much 🙂
Chickpeas are so good aren’t they? I would always choose them over any other legume 🙂
LikeLike
Pingback: Fiesta Friday #122 - Fiesta Friday
This is just perfect for #CookOnceEatTwice so thanks for sharing! I love how the leftovers evolve into various salads and finally a dip. I think I’ve used leftover dips with various salads but never the other way around so it’s ingenious – I really do love all the food you create in your kitchen it sounds so effortlessly delicious!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much 😀😀😀😀
LikeLike
It takes a lot of talent and creativity to transform leftovers to appetizing and tasty dishes Elaine and my god your transformed dishes look amazing!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much for your lovely words xxx
LikeLike
Lovely Elaine!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Great recipes with stunning photographs!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you 😀😀
LikeLiked by 1 person