5 Dishes to Make when you Need to Use Leftover Fresh Vegetables

V is for Vegetables in our Blogging from A to Z Challenge today.  We use a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables in our house.  I make most of our meals from at least a semi-homemade recipe.  By the end of the week, I often have a refrigerator drawer full of “a little of this and a little of that”—but, not enough of any one vegetable to feature it as a side dish for five or as a main ingredient.  I have 5 basic dishes that I turn to when I need to use up a hodgepodge of leftover fresh vegetables. 

Vegetable Pizza.  Homemade pizza is a great way to use random fruits and vegetables—like sliced tomato, peppers, onions, asparagus, broccoli—virtually any vegetable helps balance out a pizza.  In the vegetable pizza shown, we used leftover tomato, onion, banana peppers, mushrooms and tofu in creating the meal.

Stir-Fry.  The kids and adults in our house love stir-fry and preparing it makes short work of everything from celery and carrots, to a bit of leftover cabbage.  Find your favorite stir fry recipe and sub in whatever vegetables you have on hand.

Frittatas or Quiches.  Frittatas are frequent meal visitors in our house—especially on the weekend.  Potatoes, peppers, onions, broccoli and even leftover meat and shredded cheese find their way into a weekend breakfast or dinner.

Vegetable Soup.  Much like stir-fry or frittatas—virtually any veggie can be tossed into a vegetable soup.  Carrots, celery, onions, and potatoes are common—but, okra, corn, black beans and more can be readily added to pot of soup--like our 3 in 1 Minestrone recipe .

Vegetable Lasagna.  Using everything from carrots and onions to zucchini and yellow squash—vegetable lasagna is another family friendly way to avoid wasting random vegetable leftovers.

As the weather warms and farmers markets and backyard gardens offer loads of fresh vegetables, it will be time to get creative and substitute whatever is in season into dishes like these.  The wonderful thing about vegetables is the versatility (another V word!) to swap and switch and create something new and never with basic recipes and ideas.