A Creative Use of Leftovers

Redman loves rice, all kinds. Yellow rice and peas especially. But what can you do with the rest of it two days later? Or any kind of leftover rice/pea or rice/bean dish?

You can mix 2 or 3 eggs into it, form into patties and fry them up. They go well on top of a salad, or on the side of soup. Served with steamed broccoli and fennel-celery slaw, it all makes for a very nice vegetarian meal.

Speaking of which, some of you have asked if I am striving towards more vegetarian fare. I'm not, although it is a healthier way of eating and I get a lot of good ideas from the Moosewood Cookbook, and also from Stacey Snacks, who has her Meatless Mondays. We're not shy about eating meat around here, but Jeeps and I are pretty in sync about when we need to pull back and go with the plant life. When my vegetable garden is in full swing, we definitely eat less meat.

By the way, the rice-and-pea patties were the perfect vehicle for pickled red onions. Even Pandagirl tried them in combination and liked them.

Black Bean Fritters

And all week long your River City youth’ll be fritterin’ away, I said your young men will be fritterin’. Fritterin’ away their noon time, supper time, chore time too...
— "Trouble," from The Music Man

If you're going to fritter away supper time, do it with black bean fritters. These can be the appetizer, or the side dish, or even the main course. Or you could simply make them as comfort food, when a needy friend stands stoveside, beer in hand and heart on her sleeve, and eats them as they come out of the pan. This has never happened to me but it's a sweet picture. (Writes that down)

Stoveside Black Bean Fritters

  • 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1/2 bag frozen corn, defrosted or not.  I use Trader Joe's.
  • 1 red bell pepper, diced small
  • 1 zucchini, grated, and squeeze out as much juice as possible
  • 2-3 scallions, chopped
  • 2 tsp ground cumin
  • 1/4 cup chopped parsley or cilantro (or a mix of both)
  • 2 tablespoons brown sugar (optional, but it makes a bit of difference)
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/4 cup flour
  • 1/4 cup cornmeal

Mix all of the above in no particular order. You may need to add in another 1/4 cup cornmeal if consistency is too wet (from the zucchini).

Drop tablespoons of batter into olive oil, fry both sides until golden brown, drain on paper towels, sprinkle with salt.

These go good with butternut squash or tomato soup, or tossed on top of a spinach salad.  They are also good on their own with beer and heartache.