Savory Breakfast Cakes

I am interested in repurposing leftovers. It's creative and helps save money. I've made many different repurposed dishes, but decided I should start keeping track of them. I'll throw something together that turns out great and never have it again because I didn't write it down. This one I wrote down and even took pictures!

Yield: six 3 to 4" cakes
1/2 c leftover cooked steel cut oats

2 eggs                                                                                                

½ tsp garlic salt                                                                                 

½ tsp pepper

1 garlic scape or green scallion, diced

2 tbs grated parmesan, optional

2 kale leaves, deboned and diced

1/4 c arrowroot starch

In a medium bowl, stir and mash eggs and oats together.  Stir in salt, pepper, scape, parmesan and kale. Mix thoroughly. Add starch a tablespoon at a time making sure to blend well. If it isn't well blended, you will taste bits of starch in the cake. Add 1 tablespoon of grapeseed or olive oil to a skillet on medium heat. Spoon about ¼ cup cake mixture into the skillet smoothing and forming a patty. Cook approximately 3 minutes per side, until light brown. Serve plain or topped with sour cream, salsa or a sprinkle of parmesan.

Tuna with Tomatoes and Capers

2 tbs grapeseed oil
6 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tin anchovy fillets in oil, drained
1 can diced tomatoes or tomato sauce
2 tsp dried oregano
1 tbs dried rosemary
1/4 cup capers, drained and rinsed
1 lb tomatoes, chopped (about 6 small)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
2 to 4 tuna steaks  approx. 1" thick




In a large deep sauté pan, heat oil on medium.  Add garlic and cook until garlic starts to turn golden.
Add anchovies, mashing them with a spoon.  Add canned tomatoes, oregano and rosemary.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes.
Add capers, chopped tomatoes, salt and pepper.  Stir, then nestle tuna steaks into sauce, covering them slightly with the sauce.  Cook 5 minutes per side.  Serve or rice or noodles with pan sauce.

The recipe called for 4 tuna steaks, but I made them with 2 steaks and used the same quantity of ingredients for the sauce.

Cream of Celery Soup

I got this out of my Vitamix cookbook and have made it several times. I always have some in the refrigerator so I can just heat up a bowl!

2 1/2 cups chicken broth (I used vegetable)
1/2 small onion, peeled
4 cups (480g) celery, chopped
1/3 cup (45g) parsnips, scrubbed and chopped
1 small potato, scrubbed, baked (I omitted)
1 garlic clove, peeled
1/8 t pepper
1/2 t salt
1/4 cup half&half, heavy cream or milk (I used sour cream once and greek yogurt another time)

Place all ingredients except the half&half in the vitamix container in the order listed and secure the lid. Select Variable 1, turn the machine on , quickly increase the speed to variable 10 and then to high. Blend for 6-7 minutes until heavy steam escapes from the vented lid. reduce speed to variable 4 and remove the lid plug. Add half&half through the lid plug and blend an additional 15 seconds.

If you don't have a vitamix, you can probably use a regular blender to blend the ingredients and then cook on the stovetop to heat through. I would probably blend again at the end to make sure the soup is well blended. This is soooo good and has fantastic flavor!!

Wilted Spinach Salad

Prep. Time: 15 minutes
Serves: 1

1 Tbsp butter or olive oil
1/2 onion, sliced
1/4 cup pine nuts
5 cups fresh baby spinach leaves
1/4 cup Craisins
1/4 cup crumbled queso fresco or feta cheese

Melt butter in a wok over medium heat.  Add onion and saute until translucent.  Add pine nuts and saute for 2 minutes, stirring frequently.  Turn off heat and immediately add spinach leaves, tossing constantly until slightly wilted.  Pour immediately onto plate and top with Craisins and cheese.

This is really tasty with caramelized onions.  To caramelize onion, melt butter over medium-low heat and add sliced onion.  Cook, stirring occasionally for about 20 minutes or until golden.  I caramelized 2 onions and froze what I didn't need.  Then when I was ready to use them, I just tossed them in a heated pan to defrost.

I made this for my mom - she has an intolerance to dairy and nuts, so I made it with olive oil, onion, spinach and Craisins and she said it was very good!

Roasted Garlic

Serves: 2

1 head of garlic

1 Tbsp olive oil

1/4 tsp salt or to taste

Dash freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 350F. Slice head of garlic in half horizontally, so that you slice all of the cloves in half. Place halves on a piece of aluminum foil that is large enough to wrap around the whole head of garlic, about 12x12 inches. Drizzle oil on the garlic and sprinkle garlic with salt and pepper. Put halves of garlic together and bring foil around garlic so that it looks like a big Hershey's kiss. Bake for 1 to 1 1/2 hours or until soft and golden. Serve as a spread on bread or in a recipe that calls for roasted garlic.

Tip: Bake at the same time you are baking something else that takes a while to cook, such as, a roast, lasagna, etc.