Salad - The Ultimate Use of Leftovers

Hello, my name is Mindy and I was inspired by Tina.

Yes, after reading Tina's post on Friday about Crab Louis Salad, guess what I wanted for dinner?

Here is north Texas we've gone full throttle into summer. And though we're not experiencing 100 degree temps, our humidity has been hovering between 95 and 100%, making our 90 feel like 100+. Who wants to cook in that?

 Not me.

Well, I didn't have any crab and had no intention of making a store run, so I decided to wing it with whatever I had on hand.

Shrimp was a good idea and I had that in the freezer, so it was a go. And hard boiled eggs are a great source of protein. Then I added some sliced green onions and a little bit of tomato I had leftover.

Talk about a great dinner. YUM!

But guess what happened the next day for lunch?

I wanted salad.

Now that may not seem like a big deal to you, but I'm not a big salad person unless it's hot outside. Guess God decided I wasn't getting enough roughage. Can't you just hear it. "Cue the heat and humidity. Mindy needs more greens."

Once again, I didn't feel like running to the store for any special ingredients. And I didn't feel like cooking up anymore shrimp either. So what's a lazy cook to do?

Check the fridge.

So while the eggs boiled, I searched for salad additions.

Bacon! Bacon goes with everything. So I put a slice in the microwave to cook.

Lunchmeat! I have tons of deli-sliced ham, so I chopped up some of that, along with some more green onions. 

Then I went to the pantry. Pine nuts!

I could eat those things by the handful. How could I have forgotten them.

The result...

As I was looking for things to add to my salad, it hit me that many of the great classic salads were probably created from nothing more than leftovers. I mean, think about it. A Chef's Salad was likely invented by a chef who threw together some hard boiled eggs, leftover chicken or ham and whatever else he had on hand.

The Cobb Salad. Pretty much the same way, but "if we put each of the items in nice little row, it won't look like any old salad."

Once again. necessity is the mother of invention. We could have Salad Ruthy, Salad Jan, Salad Missy, Salad Cate, Salad MaryJane, Salad Tina and Salad Mindy and everyone of them would be different.

So now I'm curious. What would your salad look like?

Mindy Obenhaus lives in Texas with her husband and kids. She's passionate about touching readers with Biblical truths in an entertaining, and sometimes adventurous, manner.

When she’s not writing, she enjoys cooking and spending time with her grandchildren. Learn more at www.MindyObenhaus.com.