Leftovers you want to eat.
Lunchtime.
You venture into the cramped office kitchen, open the refrigerator and claw through sticky jam jars, a jug of spoiled milk, and someone’s abandoned personal pizza box to pull out your Tupperware of leftover spaghetti and chicken alfredo. After throwing your leftovers into the microwave for two radioactive minutes, you head back to your desk to pick at the now-mushy pasta sitting in a bed of greasy cream sauce.
Okay, maybe it’s not always that bad.
Or maybe it is. How many times have you opened a container of leftovers and groaned because what was delicious has now deteriorated into something less than appealing? There’s a reason why leftovers get a bad rap. It doesn’t have to be that way.
Sure, there are some foods that do not improve by an overnight stay in the refrigerator. Noodles will get mushy. Cream or cheese-based sauces will probably split when you reheat them. Cooked meat, without any sort of sauce to keep it hydrated, will dry out.
But there is a whole category of food that will only get better with fridge time. Stir-fries, curries, and pureed soups will improve as the spices and herbs they contain strengthen. Cruciferous vegetable slaws and grain salads become more delicious as their various ingredients mingle together.
Often these types of dishes can be held at room temperature and—depending on your tastes—are delicious eaten at any temperature. This makes them ideal for packing and eating on the go. It also means you can avoid throwing them into what is certainly a germ-infested work fridge until lunch time, and you don’t have reheat them in a grease-splattered microwave that smells like a thousand meals.
These are the leftovers that you should be packing for lunch (and possibly batching in preparation over the weekend!) These are leftovers you will want to eat.
Like Chickpea Potato Vindaloo.
My father created this simple curry recipe one weeknight when he didn’t feel like cooking meat. Instead of falling back on his usual vegetarian repertoire, he decided to steal the curry sauce base from a Pork Vindaloo recipe and throw it over a few pantry staples. The result? Toothsome chickpeas and potato chunks smothered a spicy tangy sauce.
Absolutely delicious.
Ten years later, I still make this curry all the time. It makes the amazing packed lunch. Because I don’t need to refrigerate it, and actually prefer to eat it at room temperature, I can just throw a little container into my backpack with and enjoy it wherever I am. The complete protein available in that dynamic chickpea-potato base make for a nourishing meal that will sustain me for the rest of my day. And most important—on the planning end, anyway—the warming spices and tangy vinegar kick only enrich the dish as they sit, so I can plan ahead and make an entire batch on a weekend, and know that it will not only stay good but actually get better throughout my week. I’ll be just as happy with my chickpeas and potatoes on Friday as I was when I cooked them the previous Sunday.
And isn’t that the ultimate in batchable meals?
Enjoy!
Chickpea Potato Vindaloo
(Serves 4)
4 tablespoons oil, divided
Diamond Crystal kosher salt
1 onion, thinly sliced
10 cloves garlic, minced
1-inch piece ginger root, peeled and minced
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon ground mustard
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon ground turmeric
2 potatoes (1 pound), cut into ½-inch cubes
1 can chickpeas (15 1/2 ounces), drained and rinsed
½ cup white vinegar**
Rice, for serving
**Vindaloo is traditionally a punchy, bright sauce that takes a lot of kick from the vinegar added to it. If you'd like your sauce to be a little less punchy, I'd recommend starting with 1/4 cup vinegar!
Method
Heat a large saucepan over medium heat. Add oil and swirl to evenly coat the pan.
Add sliced onions and a three-finger pinch of salt, and sauté 3-5 minutes, or until the onion is soft and starting to turn translucent.
Add minced garlic and ginger and the third tablespoons oil, and saute 1-2 minutes, until fragrant, then stir in ground spices with the final tablespoon oil, mixing in with the aromatics until they form a thick paste.
Allow the spices to bloom for 1 minute, until they are fragrant. Then add the cubed potatoes along with two cups of water and two three-finger pinches of salt. Bring to a boil, then cover. Simmer 10 minutes, until the potatoes are tender.
Remove the lid and stir in the chickpeas and vinegar. Increase the heat until the curry is boiling, then simmer three minutes, or until the curry has thickened. Taste and add salt or vinegar to taste.
Serve with rice.
Originally posted October 24, 2019.