Making Leftovers into a New Meal: Spinach Hummus Cups and Grilled Vegetables

I love taking leftovers, adding something, and making a totally new meal. The other night I mixed together some sloppy lentils and that just barely adequate pasta dish, added a little more sauce and had a yummy meal.

But tonight I made one of the my best leftover creations ever.

I had a few of those leftover grilled vegetables from yesterday and certainly didn't want them to go to waste. I also had a recipe for Spinach Hummus that I wanted to try. Hmm...how could they be combined? And this is what I came up with.

First I made the hummus. Funny, I've heard several vegans say that it's the only food other people think they can eat and yet I haven't had it in 9 weeks of eating a vegan diet. In fact, I could probably count on one hand how many times I've had it in my life. But I like it and it does have that great garbanzo protein, so I figured it was about time to whip up a batch. And I think spinach makes just about anything taste better so this recipe looked great. I can't use garlic--I subbed grated horseradish for a little spice (but if you can, go for the garlic!) I also thought it needed a little extra salt and I cut back on the lemon just a little.

Next, I took a few corn tortillas (warmed in a damp towel in the microwave to make them pliable), brushed on a little olive oil and sprinkled dried parsley, cumin and fresh ground black pepper, and put them in a muffin tin. Baked in the oven at 400 for 10 minutes.

I had originally planned to put the hummus and the grilled vegetables inside the cup, but as the cups baked, they closed up more, so there wasn't a lot of room for vegetables. There was still plenty of room for hummus! So I filled them up and garnished with some chopped spinach and fireroasted tomatoes. After filling the cups, I put it back in the oven for 5 minutes to warm the tomatos and hummus. It was like a big chip with built-in dip.

To go alongside of these really cute cups, I warmed up the remainder of the fire roasted tomatos and some cut up roasted eggplant. There was just a little bit of chopped spinach left over from the hummus so I threw that in for a little extra color. Then added some pine nuts. I cooked all of that in a small frying pan (no extra oil needed because the veggies had been grilled with olive oil) until the pine nuts were golden brown and the vegetables were warm.

Leftovers? Yes, please!

I actually have to take a side dish to a Thanksgiving potluck next Sunday and would love to take those cups, but I don't think I can keep them warm. They'd taste fine cool, but I'm afraid the tortillas wont stay crispy. Darn, I guess I'll just have to make some more and find out.