No Leftovers

At the end of last week, Kristin at the Kitchen Sink featured her first attempt at a Low Country Boil. This is a meal that I have made many times, and reading her article made me want to put that on our menu for this week’s meals. I added smoked sausage to the pot and cornbread to complete the meal. The first thing that my husband said was, “Are we having company?”, and then he became very excited that it was no special event, but just a Monday night dinner for the two of us.

This was our meal on Tuesday night:

Do you notice anything? You might not, but my husband did notice that there were no leftovers for him to eat for lunch on Tuesday. If you look closely, you will see that there are a lot of similar elements from our Low Country Boil! I took everything except the sausage and repurposed it for Tuesday’s dinner. Of course, my husband was a little disappointed when he realized that there were no leftovers for lunch, but he was very satisfied when dinner came around.

I was worried that because everything was cooked with the same spices on Monday night which is a good thing with that meal, that there would be the same essence throughout Tuesday’s meal (which I did not necessarily want). This really was not a problem; the new flavors that were added were really complemented by the Boil seasoning. Here’s how I did it:

1.) Corn on the Cob becomes a Corn and Cherry Tomato Salad

2 ears of corn, cooked

1 pint cherry tomatoes

1/2 red onion

2-3 stems of basil

1 Tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon white wine vinegar

salt and pepper to taste

Cut the corn off of the cob using a sharp knife. Place the corn into a medium bowl. Half the cherry tomatoes and add to the corn. Finely dice the onion and add as well. Chiffonade or chop the basil, and add the basil and the rest of the ingredients to the bowl. Mix well, and serve at room temperature.

2.) Potatoes become Potato Salad

You can adjust your ingredients based on how many potatoes you have. Because I was using leftovers, I had fewer potatoes.

6 medium red potatoes, cut into pieces, boiled until cooked through

1 ¼ cups Mayonnaise

1 cup sour cream

¼ cup buttermilk

1 teaspoon celery seed

1 ½ teaspoon horseradish

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup chopped fresh parsley

1 cup chopped green onions

Mix all together and adjust for seasonings.

3.) Shrimp became Shrimp Burgers

½ pound peeled cooked shrimp

½ rib celery

2-3 stems parsley

1 green onion

1 large lemon

1 ½ tablespoons mayonnaise

½ cup cornbread crumbs (I used one cornbread muffin from the night before)

salt and pepper

hot pepper sauce
1 egg, beaten

1 tablespoon butter

Chop the shrimp, celery, parsley and onion. Place into a small bowl. Using a fine grater, zest half of the lemon and add to the bowl. Add the mayonnaise and cornbread. Add salt, pepper, and hot pepper sauce to taste. Add about half of the beaten egg, and mix well. The mixture will barely hold together.

Using your hands, make two burgers from the mixture. They will hold together better if they are thicker, rather than wider. Refrigerate for at least an hour.

Heat the butter over medium heat in a large nonstick skillet. Carefully add the burgers, using a spatula to press any parts that have fallen apart. Cook for 3-4 minutes, and then use two spatulas to carefully turn both burgers. Cook on the other side for 3-4 minutes. Serve over a bed of baby greens.