Serious Eats: Recipes
Meat Lite: Leftovers Empanadas
Editor's note: Philadelphia food writers Joy Manning and Tara Mataraza Desmond drop by each week with Meat Lite, which celebrates meat in moderation. Meat Lite was inspired by the book coauthored by the two, Almost Meatless, due out in spring 2009.
The holiday season is a great time to embrace the Meat Lite/Almost Meatless philosophy. This may seem contradictory, seeing as it's also the only occasion that most people roast upwards of 20 pounds of bird. But recycling leftovers is a reminder of how a little bit of meat goes a long way when paired with other terrific ingredients.
After every last piece of beautifully sliced breast gets stacked in those requisite turkey sandwiches, use the rest of the flavorful shreds of white and dark meat (there are pounds of them...flip that bird over!!) for these empanadas. Whether you make your own empanada dough from scratch or purchase good quality pre-made dough rounds, this recipe comes together fast since the filling has already been cooked and cooled.
The combination possibilities are plentiful given all the food hanging around. I made a few with turkey shreds, cinnamon-spiked sweet potatoes and pecans, as well as these turkey salsa cheese empanadas, which happen to be delicious, dunked in hot gravy. (That's right, gravy. Thanksgiving means it's ok to experiment with Americana-drenched combos.)
Tara Mataraza Desmond writes about, cooks, and eats food for a living. Her blog, Crumbs On My Keyboard, is dedicated to delicious things in Philadelphia and lots of other places.