RedGage

Christmas and New Years have come and gone. The tree has been put away for another year. Now to tackle those holiday leftovers. The party tray and relish tray leftovers can be used for a variety of salads, sandwiches, wraps and soups. The same can be said for the holiday ham, Christmas roast and side dishes. Nothing should go to waste.

Roast Beef Salad

Concerned about those added holiday pounds? Combine a little of the Christmas roast and almost every leftover vegetable on the party tray with a few cheese cubes for a fantastic dinner salad.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. of thinly sliced roast beef cut into thin strips
• 1/2 cup of celery sticks, diced
• 1/2 cup of carrot sticks, diced
• 1/2 cup of bell pepper slices, diced
• 1/2 cup of chopped purple or red onions
• 1/2 cup of Radishes, sliced
• 1 cup of cherry tomato, chopped or in wedges
• 1/4 cup of cubed mozzarella or pepperjack cheese
• 1/4 cup each of black olives and green olives
• 1/2 cup of cucumber slices
• 8 thin avocado slices
• 3 cups of fresh spinach or romaine lettuce
• 1 cup of purple cabbage finely shredded
• 1/4 cup of raspberry vinaigrette dressing

Directions :

1. Toss all ingredients with the vinaigrette dressing together in a salad bowl and chill well. Enjoy!

** Consider serving this salad with a bowl of french onion soup.

Pasta Salad

This cold salad combines Italian dressing with fresh veggies, cheese, ham and pepperoni for a tantalizing kick to the taste buds.Serve with warm breadsticks and marinara sauce on the side.This is almost like pizza in a salad, Try this one on the kids.

Ingredients :

• 1 lb. pasta (rotini), cooked, drained and chilled
• 1 lg. bottle of Italian salad dressing
• 1 cup of diced cooked ham
• 1/2 cup of diced or sliced pepperoni
• 1 cup of cubed mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 cup of chopped red onions
• 1/2 cup of cherry tomatoes
• 1/2 cup of thinly sliced or diced cucumbers
• 1/2 cup of shredded zucchini
• 1/2 cup of shredded carrots
• 1/2 cup of green or red bell pepper diced
• 1/4 cup of each black olives and green olives

Directions:

1. Toss all ingredients with the Italian dressing together in a salad bowl.
2. Chill for about an hour before serving.

More Ways To Use Leftovers

Reheated leftovers can be dull and boring. However, depending on the holiday food choices, many soups, salads, sandwiches,wraps, casseroles and quiches can be created from meat, cheese and vegetable leftovers. Let nothing go to waste.Even leftover cornbread can be made into a tasty cornbread salad. Be creative. So much money was spent during the holidays. These frugal recipes will start the new year off right.