My Journal

Cook Once, Eat Twice

12 September 2024
It might be September, but I am clinging on to every last morsel of summer still left in my memory. Here, we are back to school, back to University, the youngest turned 10, the second is prepping for adventures around the globe and I am just a little confused. Constantly and simultaneously playing catch up and also wondering what’s going on. So I am just doing what I do best, cooking in mass quantities and then playing my favourite game of what to make with the contents of my fridge in the shortest time possible. Today I am going to share one of my favourites - a leftover salad plate concept.

I’ve mentioned my cook once eat twice policy a few (or a hundred) times before.  But I am not sure I’ve always clearly suggested HOW to use the leftovers from those recipes I encouraged you to double, saving the rest for later or another day.  I’m here to rectify this with a Chicken Salad, made with all the leftovers and a few other bits from the fridge.  

Yes, I hear you, the end of salad season is up on us as we are catapulted (at least in London) to soups and stews at a ferocious and frankly, unfriendly rate. I mean, I am wearing a sweater today as I write this which is just not OK since my mind is still in shorts. But I digress. Because in my kitchen, salads are still an all year around offering, varying the ingredients seasonally on the plate and complimented by a side of soup in the cooler months.

I’m blaming this premature seasonal change for my lack of imaginative title here, because this is SO much more than just a Chicken Salad. The excitement on this particular serving plate comes from the creative exercise of emptying your fridge onto a large sharing plate, having already done the hard job of cooking a day or two (or three) before, wasted nothing and the sheer smugness of putting a meal on the table in 15 minutes or less. 

These creative salad plates are a “thing” of mine. They’ve appeared in many iterations over the years as a solution for causal weeknight dinners with friends and an inviting way to use up and stretch leftovers for those who don’t like leftovers (you know who you are, I see you and I WILL convert you). And please do not restrict yourselves to either the leftover or picked-up-on-the-way-home-rotisserie-chicken that I’ve suggested here.  I have a salmon version coming along next week, but you really can use any protein from seared or bougie tinned tuna, to a bean concoction to roast beef.

Alongside this very loose version of a recipe centred around using up my leftover roast chicken and a few lonely veg, I’m sharing some mix and match suggestions so you can build seasonally and use up whatever your fridge forage offers on any given day.

Get creative! You can thank me later……

Before I go…..

Thank you to everyone who so speedily booked into the next season of classes. You guys never disappoint and the classes sold out in record time (again!). There are a couple of space left on the 19th November’s All The Trimmings, but if you want to be added to the waitlist for any of the earlier classes, pleas just drop me a line. I’ll be back next time with a Rosh Hashanah menu for all those celebrating and for anyone who is looking for a little menu inspiration for a memorable feast and some of my favourite cookbooks that I devoured over this summer.  

My YouTube channel is now very well populated with videos that are arranged in patterns so you can easily find your favourite recipes. A new recipe drops every Tuesday and I’d love you to subscribe (it will help me hugely) so you never miss out. Thank you for your incredible support. You are an amazing community and it’s so wonderful to be here with you. xx