10 Foods You Can Make to Clear Out the Fridge
Cut down on food waste and grocery bills with these healthy dishes
Ever open up the fridge only to see a bounty of food nearly past its prime? Containers of takeout, little plastic tubs of leftovers, crisper drawers crammed with droopy vegetables—instead of throwing in the towel and popping a frozen pizza in the oven, rise to the occasion and think of them as shortcuts to a fast, healthy, and satisfying dinner.
These versatile preparations not only cut down on consumer guilt; they often taste better than the sort of recipes you create specific shopping lists for.
Hash
Corned beef hash is probably the best-known incarnation, but if a sad, salty can of the stuff is the extent of your familiarity with hash, it’s time to discover the pleasing possibilities of a quickly-thrown-together skillet of the homemade stuff. Flaked cooked salmon or trout is excellent in hash, as are diced leftover potatoes or sweet potatoes. Hash does not always have to include meat and potatoes; one of my favorite versions of hash is nothing but minced broccoli (including the stems) and minced cauliflower (including the core) frizzled in a skillet with a diced onion. They key is to let bits of whatever you’re cooking get a little crispy and brown so you have a variety of textures in your final product. Hash is a weekend breakfast go-to, but it’s just as satisfying for dinner.
Fried Rice
Fried rice turns out best when it’s made with leftover rice, since it dries out a bit in the refrigerator and therefore doesn’t clump together when you’re cooking. Versatile rice can take on many different flavor directions besides the Chinese takeout route. Paella fried rice is one of my favorites—add diced bits of cooked chicken or sausage, along with some smoked paprika and assorted vegetables. Or sometimes I add a little curry powder and finish it with peanuts, fish sauce, and a squirt of lime juice for a Southeast Asian take. If you have other leftover grains like quinoa or bulgur wheat, you can give those the fried rice treatment, too.
Giant Salad
You may recall Elaine’s famous big salad from the Seinfeld episode of the same name. The home version is a little more freewheeling; it involves zero cooking, a bit of knife work, and is great for sticky summer says when you don’t want to make the kitchen any hotter. My default giant salad formula is more about the additions than the lettuce (I like a 1:1 ratio of greens to chunky stuff). Diced cooked meat, pickled beets, hard-boiled eggs, crumbles of feta, a boatload of chopped raw vegetables, and a can of drained chickpeas are frequent MVPs in this arrangement. Toasted nuts sprinkled on top add bulk, crunch, and better nutrition than croutons.
Minestrone
It takes a lot of vegetable-chopping, yes, but minestrone is a great soup to make to use up an assortment of vegetables. In fact, the greater the variety of vegetables, the better it tastes. Add faster-cooking vegetables like summer squash, peas, and greens just a few minutes before serving time so you don’t end up with a big bowl of mush. A big, fat dab of pesto to finish each bowl is a satisfying touch, but it’s certainly not necessary. Omit the tomatoes in the broth and you have potage au pistou, the Provençal version of minestrone.