The Dish That Keeps On Giving — by Guest Mom Jora

If you don’t already have one, I highly recommend you find a recipe that your family loves and that also happens to give you lots of leftovers. This is ironic coming from The Girl Who Hates to Eat Leftovers. But I have to admit there are some dishes that are as good, if not better, the second or third day as they were the first. Soup, in my mind, is one such dish.

The beauty of finding the “dish that keeps on giving” as I like to call it, is that it is usually a one dish meal (think casserole, soup, stew, etc.) and can be served from at lunch, on a planned “leftovers night,” or on one of those nights that you intend to cook something fresh and fabulous, but alas, the day has gotten away from you. Generally speaking, these dishes are just as much work if you make four servings or twelve. Make it on Sunday afternoon, eat it for dinner that night, and then partake as needed during the week. (Again, if you’re very oriented toward planning, which I am not, freeze some portions and then pull it out in a month when everyone has forgotten about it!)

Some of my family’s favorite soups (which provide lots of leftovers) include the following:

Homemade Chicken Noodle
Turkey Chipotle Chile
Lentil Soup
Cream of Asparagus
Chicken Tortilla Soup
Broccoli, Red Pepper and Cheddar Chowder

And last but not least, Orangette’s “Fretwell (Italian Vegetable) Soup,” which I made recently with Baby J (literally) underfoot. I am always surprised that my kids (specifically my son) will eat this soup which has about 7 or 8 types of vegetables in plain view. Oh, and it happens to be the most delicious version of minestrone I have ever tasted. Be sure to serve it over the slices of day-old bread and with plenty of good olive oil drizzled over the top.

See how happy Baby J is to sit down at eat this soup?

And here’s C-Man giving the soup a (too-rare) thumbs up!

What are your favorite “dishes that keep on giving”?