Second Chance Cuisine

I've got a confession to make. I really dislike "leftovers." Mr. Vino is also not a big fan. And when I talk about "leftovers" what I mean is the exact same meal you had yesterday, nuked in the microwave until it is unrecognizable, then dumped on a plate and served molten hot around the edges and cold in the middle. Yuck.

Leftovers. Left. Over. Left over from what? Why didn't someone want them in the first place. Then it occurred to me. All leftovers need is a good marketing campaign. And, Mrs. Vino is just the person to give it to them. It's a simple image problem. So allow me to introduce the new image program for leftovers: Second Chance Cuisine.

Second Chance Cuisine is a repurposing of last night's dinner. Last night's spaghetti bolognese becomes Italian Surprise - like shepherd's pie, only not. Take your spaghetti bolognese and put it in a baking dish. Add a little red wine so it doesn't dry out. A few more fresh herbs. Slice zucchini very thinly and overlap the slices over the top of the baking dish to cover (like the mashed potatoes on a shepherd's pie). Then top it all with a mix of Asiago and Swiss cheese and bake it until the cheese is brown, the zucchini soft and the spaghetti bubbly. For a first try at repurposed leftovers, it was pretty good. Even Mr. Vino liked it (note, he was VERY suspicious at first when I explained my repurposing concept).

I've gotten better at repurposing leftovers since then. In fact, last night's dinner was truly worthy of the Second Chance Cuisine label. So here is my recipe for Second Chance Flank Steak with Gazpacho Salad. (Note that this also works really well with repurposed chicken breasts, repurposed shrimp or repurposed salmon filets.)

Second Chance Flank Steak
12 slices of leftover flank steak (hopefully a bit on the rare side)
3 handfuls of fresh spinach leaves (or 1/2 bag of spinach) washed
1 large ear of raw corn
2 medium garden tomatoes
1 small cucumber, peeled, seeded, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 clove garlic, cut in half lengthwise
a pinch of red pepper flake
Tomato Ginger Salad Dressing (recipe follows


Remove the corn from the cob. Yes, Mrs. Vino knows that's a messy task. Try getting a large bowl, a sharp pairing knife and a coffee cup. Put the coffe cup in the bowl with the bottom facing up. Place the top, pointy end of the corn on the bottom of the cup and hold the broader end of the corn cob. Use the knife to carefully slice the corn off the cob. It should fall into the bowl instead of scattering all around your kitchen! Cut the tomatoes in half and give them a squeeze to remove some of the seeds. Then dice them up. Put them in the bowl with the corn, cucumber and garlic. Add 4T of dressing, or to taste and toss.

Steam the spinach over boiling water to which you've added the red pepper flake and split garlic clove. Microwave it if you must, but I really like steamed fresh spinach. Microwave the flank steak (yes, the microwave is good for some things) for 1 minute until warm.

To plate: Put half the spinach on the plate, top with half the salad. Top with half the flank steak. Drizzle with a bit of the remaining dressing. Absolutely. Fabulous. (and relatively healthy)

Tomato-Ginger Salad Dressing
(I use this for sauce, for salads, for dip, it's healthy and yummy)
1 large tomato, seeds squeezed out, roughly chopped
1/4 c. oil packed sundried tomatoes (you don't need the oil, just the tomatoes)
2 T minced ginger (or to taste)
2 cloves of garlic
2T balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup water
Salt & Pepper to taste


Put it all in your blender and let it run til pureed smooth. Will hold for a week in your fridge.