Lover of Leftovers

Lovingly, I just polished off a bowl full of the past three days leftovers. The first layer was the last spoonful of

Chioggia Beet and Sweet Potato Gratin over Orange Juice Stewed Lentils

After the thin slices of these beautiful pink and red vegetables, I added the totally out of season

Summer Squash, Kidney Bean and Walnut Salad

Yes, March is not the time to eat yellow squash in Philadelphia, but hey, they looked so beautiful at the Reading Terminal Market, I bought one anyway.

To top it all off, I added a touch of carrot slaw. My favorite way to eat carrots is raw and julienned. This time they were dressed in the last spoons full of almond butter dressing.

Carrot Slaw in Almond Cilantro Vinaigrette

As I sat at the kitchen table and devoured the layered leftovers, the images of two women came to my mind: a northern African woman whose story I heard during a course on Cuisines of the Mediterranean, and the expeditor at my first job as a line cook.

The northern African woman's daily routine of caring for her home and children is so involved that she barely sneaks a moment to hide behind the wall of her kitchen and revive herself with lentils bundled in warm flatbread.

This morning, I felt a warm intimacy with my food that I imagine the northern African woman might share. As my week has been more active than usual, preparing lunch and dinners for my love, working as a breadmaker and attending gardentender workshops, my body needed all the warmth from the leftover dishes whose outer beauty had faded.

Making a meal from small remnants of previously composed dishes has defined my personal eating style since my first experience as a line cook years ago. My expeditor, a robust vibrant brown woman, laughed at me each time she saw me making a plate out of the extra slices of lamb, eggplant tomato chutney, potato gratin, tomato salad and bits of whatever other dishes had just been plated on the line.

"You eat like someone who lived through the Great Depression," she would laugh and yell across the line in my direction. Far from depressed, I was enlivened by the bits of sweet red meat, salty cheese and potatoes and anything else that would have otherwise been tossed away as waste.

I am reluctant, these days, to serve my loved ones the exact same food from the evening before for the fear that they will be unenthused. I often think I should also treat myself to better food than the remains of foods that have lost their outer beauty. Today, the thought faded when I tasted the warmth of lentils whose flavors of orange juice, cumin, maple syrup, cayenne pepper and sea salt had intensified over night.

Rather than feel mistreated when I sit down to a meal of dinners past, I raise my head high as one who lovingly eats and appreciates leftovers.

Photos of Chioggia Beet and Sweet Potato Gratin over Orange Juice Stewed Lentils