Stretching Your Takeaway Meal
Isn’t it lovely to get a takeaway every now and then? Not having to do any of the work, and just allowing yourself a nice treat. Well, it’s about to get lovelier - because you can get (at least!) one more meal out of it the next day, that don’t just feel like leftovers of shame.
What’s your go-to takeaway?
It might seem weird that The From Scratch Body does a post about takeaways - but if you are new to the community or just needed a reminder: this is not a cult where the only right way is to make everything from scratch and spend all your time in the kitchen. No! It’s all about living, and eating, in a way that feels good for you. Sometimes, that might be deciding to get a takeaway. Just picking up your phone, choosing the dish that looks good to you - and give in to your craving. What is your favourite takeaway? Indian, Chinese, Mexican? Maybe some sushi? Or what about a delicious Thai dish!
There’s so much to choose from - depending on where in the world you live, of course - and it’s a lovely treat. Sometimes. It obviously does take it out of your pocket, and there is no doubt that there are health considerations here. I’ve talked about this in the past; it’s helpful to keep in mind that when a restaurant serves you food, their top priority is not that you get your nutritional needs met that day, or that it’s beneficial for your heart, inflammation levels or mental health. Their only consideration, and we can’t really blame them for this, is that you think the food is delicious. For these reasons, I recommend not getting in to the habit of getting takeaways all the time - as they are likely to be higher in salt, fat and sugar content than you need. They’re more enjoyable when they’re a rare treat anyway, in my opinion!
What you can do, when you do get one, is stretch it. I love a big portion, and even for me, most takeaway dinners (Indian/Nepalese and Thai are my favourites!) are way too much for one meal. Instead of mindlessly eating until I am totally stuffed, I only dish up about two thirds of the food, and leave the rest for the next day. And I never regret it!
The next day, instead of just having a bit left over from yesterday’s meal, I cook a new meal from it. Even if you don’t know all the spices and ingredients in the dish you’ve had, you can probably guess quite a few of them. Trust your instincts. Does the sauce have coconut milk in it? Add in a bit more! What spices can you smell? You might want to add some more once you’ve thinned it out with some coconut milk or water, so go for some more spices - if you are unsure you can open some of your spice jars and smell them, see if anything seems to match or smells like an appropriate addition to the dish. You can invent something totally new here! You might have eaten most of the main ingredient from the dish, like if there were bits of chicken or tofu in there - a super lovely, healthy and cheap way to stretch it the next day can be to chop up some broccoli and cauliflower florets and simmer them in with the dish until they are tender (it doesn’t take long). It feels really substantial and also helps you feel like you are having a new meal instead of just the last bits of yesterday’s dinner.
This is another perfect time to use up some bits of veg you have in the fridge. Adding in a little bit of onion and garlic is a great way of reintroducing some flavour, you can chop up and chuck in half a pepper, some tomatoes, a bit of tomato puree or whatever you have lying around that could work.
If you got a pizza, and only have a couple of slices left, you can make a really tasty salad and have with it - maybe top it with a few spoonfuls of natural yoghurt? (Oh and if you are reheating your pizza in the microwave, put a glass filled halfway with water - it stops the pizza going soggy!).
This can almost feel like a way of tricking yourself into having more veg and greens, and well - that’s not so bad, is it! It can also maybe inspire a whole new dish from scratch, so write down what you did if you really enjoyed it. Next time you’re craving a takeaway dinner, maybe you’ll be brave and make it completely from scratch instead?
How do you usually have your takeaway leftovers? What do you have in your fridge right now that would go well with it? Post on Instagram and tag me @TheFromScratchBody and use the hashtag #TheFromScratchBody so I don’t miss it!
