There are always leftovers after Thanksgiving dinner. You can enjoy them by serving up a second plate full of turkey, potatoes and stuffing and have dinner all over again, but there are many other ways to put those leftovers to good use and infuse some new flavor into the leftovers.
A towering Turkey Club Sandwich is always a delicious way to use up leftover turkey, and fresh roasted turkey makes a club sandwich much better than the sliced deli meat that many restaurants serve up in their sandwiches. Bacon, lettuce and tomato are must-haves, but a little ripe avocado will make the sandwich even better if you have some on hand.
A Turkey Cobb Salad is another great lunch dish, and although it is packed with plenty of flavor, it feels a little lighter than a regular plate full of leftovers. The salad features bacon, blue cheese, cheddar cheese, tomatoes, cucumbers, hard boiled egg and avocado – in addition to turkey, of course – and it can really be customized to suit your tastes and what extra ingredients you might have in your fridge.
Turkey Enchiladas will transform your turkey into something that you wouldn’t normally associate with Thanksgiving. The enchiladas are packed with shredded turkey meat and topped with a spicy homemade enchilada sauce. It’s addictive and just might become a post-Thanksgiving tradition.
Leftover mashed potatoes can make an appearance in a batch of Loaded Potato Pinwheels, the appetizer that won the grand prize at the 46th annual Pillsbury Bake-Off. They were inspired by the flavors in loaded baked potatoes, and actually have mashed potatoes in their filling. If you have out of town guests visiting for the holidays, these are a perfect party dish to put out for snacking.
I like to add some cranberry sauce to my turkey sandwiches, but I always have a lot more than I can use. Leftover cranberry sauce is great for baking and there are plenty of desserts that you can incorporate it into. This Cranberry Pecan Shortbread Tart has a cranberry sauce filling that is a sweet-tart contrast to the buttery shortbread that surrounds it. It is surprisingly easy to make, but looks elegant enough to entertain with.
Cranberry Swirl Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting add a splash of cranberry to moist pumpkin bars that contain lots of great fall flavor. They’re easy to make and even easier to eat. And I have been known to bring them out in the morning for holiday brunches, as well as for dessert.
My Homemade Cranberry Vanilla Vodka is an infused spirit that I like to make around the holidays, both to serve and to give as a hostess gift. I usually make a quick homemade cranberry sauce to flavor it, but you can actually use leftover sauce if you heat it up to release some of its flavor first. I prefer to use homemade sauce, but a high quality, whole berry storebought sauce will also do the trick and infuse both holiday color and flavor into a batch of spirits that are perfect for the season.
What do you think?