Refreshed Asian Stir-Fry with Salmon

Just before I slipped off to sleep last night — a surprisingly sound one considering that I’d just watched another two episodes of my new favorite show, True Blood — I had a culinary ephiphany:  the term “leftover” needs to be revamped.  (Pun intended.)

“Leftover”  sounds distinctly unappealing, doesn’t it?  I mean, who wants what’s left over?  Even dedicated garage-sale shoppers like to get there at the crack of dawn to get first dibs on what’s laid out in the garage or scattered across the lawn.  Calling something a “leftover”  doesn’t do it justice at all, especially when that leftover can be re-purposed and used to create something totally new and innovative.  Leftovers aren’t leftovers at all — they’re founts of inspiration.  They’re tasty ways to save money.  They can be the ultimate convenience food, particularly if we go with the well-nigh-forgotten definition of “convenient”:  affording accommodation or advantage.  (Which commercial “convenience”  foods most certainly do not — they afford poor health, strained economies, and overburdened health-care systems.)  It’s time to re-create the concept of leftovers!

Henceforth, leftovers won’t be leftovers in this e-kitchen:  they’ll be “refreshed” foods.  And to usher in the new era, here’s how I made Monday”s dinner into Wednesday’s lunch by pairing it with Tuesday’s dinner!

Refreshed Asian Stir-Fry with Salmon & Noodles

As the name implies, I simply added salmon and noodles to Monday’s stir-fry (two posts down).  I’d baked the salmon the night before for dinner and had saved half of it, so all I had to do was use a fork to break it into chunks while I boiled water for the brown rice noodles.  As soon as the noodles had finished cooking, I drained them, added the already-cooked stir-fry to the noodle pot, slid the drained noodles back into it, added the chunked salmon, stirred it, and put the whole thing back on the stove for a minute or two to heat it all through.  Right before serving, I drizzled on a bit of extra sesame oil and soy sauce.

There you have it!  A fantastic lunch in 7 minutes.  (Or however many minutes it takes to cook whatever kind of pasta you choose to use.)  How’s that for refreshing?

Enjoy!