May 30, 2007

Luscious Leftovers?!?

An extra sheet of puff pastry, courtesy of Operation St. Honore...

A handful of salad veggies on their last legs...

A third of a roasted turkey breast languishing in the back of the freezer.

And a little inspiration from the folks behind Leftover Tuesdays. A monthly event founded by David of Cooking Chat and hosted this month by Pam of Project Foodie, Leftover Tuesdays celebrate the scraps hiding in the refrigerator and freezer, and challenge participants to rescue, recycle and revitalize them rather than tossing them in the trash.

For my contribution, I combined my father's famous post Thanksgiving Hot Turkey Salad (yes, the one crusted in potato chips) and a more epicurian recipe for chicken salad I picked up at Whole Foods. The result, a tasty and economical solution to lunch at my desk this week:

Hot Turkey Salad in Puff Pastry

1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 tsp apple cider vinegar
4 tsp honey
2 tsp poppy seeds
sea salt, to taste
ground pepper, to taste
2 cups leftover roasted turkey breast, skinned, boned, chilled and cubed
1/2 cup candied walnuts
1 cup red seedless grapes halved
1 small red onion, chopped
1/4 cup diced jicama
1 sheet puff pastry
mixed greens

Preheat oven to 375.

Mix salad dressing ingredients (mayonnaise through ground pepper) in a small bowl. Cover and refrigerate 30-60 minutes.

Defrost puff pastry on counter for 30-40 minutes. Cut pastry into small squares (I used a 3 inch cookie cutter). Prick center of squares with a fork Position squares 1 inch apart on baking sheet coated lightly with nonstick spray.

Toss turkey breast, walnuts, grapes, onion and jicama in a medium bowl to combine. Add salad dressing and toss to coat.

Pile about 2 tablespoons turkey salad mixture on top of pastry squares.

Bake at 375 until pastry puffs and browns slightly, salad sets (15-20 minutes). Serve over mixed greens drizzled with balsamic vinegar or honey-based vinaigrette.

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6 comments:

Amanda at Little Foodies said...

Wow! This sounds great. Good luck playing catch up. I don't think I'm brave enough! Amanda

Anonymous said...

wow - sounds delicious! I'm coincidentally making turkey this weekend so now I'll have to try this with the leftovers...

Karen Baking Soda said...

Oh yes! I favour this one over it's Honore brother...sshh don't tell the other DB's!

Peabody said...

I think we are all using up the extra puff pastry. Great sounding leftovers.

Helene said...

Sounds delicious, and a great way to eat the puff pastry!

Thistlemoon said...

Love it! Bring on the leftovers! :)