Reinventing Leftovers

Do you like leftovers? There are certain foods that I love as leftovers, like spaghetti, enchiladas and stews. Typically, though, I get bored of foods after eating them once or twice. This is challenging because I hate wasting food and it's hard to cook for one or two people, when most recipes are meant for families.

The other day I made some wonderfully creamy risotto and a baby spinach/apple/walnut/gorgonzola salad with balsamic dressing. In an effort to vamp up my leftovers the next day, I made risotto cakes. I've never made them before, so I googled up some recipes, but didn't end up following any of them. I chose to form each patty out of a 1/2 cup of leftover risotto, and snuck a couple small chunks of pepper jack cheese in the center of each patty. I then dipped the cakes in egg, followed by panko bread crumbs, because that's what I had on hand. I heated up a couple of tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat, and cooked the patties 2-4 minutes on each side, until they were nice and brown and crispy. Towards the end, I sauteed some spinach and garlic in a separate pan. Delicious! Next time I have leftover risotto I want to try these!