Leftover Turkey and Rice Middle Eastern Salad Recipe
Happy Day-After-Thanksgiving! I hope you all had a great holiday. Mine was just lovely and it was so special to spend the day with my girls who are home from college in the kitchen with me. The weather was crazy warm and my husband and I were able to enjoy a beautiful beach walk while the apple pies were in the oven.
Now, what to do with all those leftovers?! Some people (like my husband) are perfectly happy eating Thanksgiving leftovers in the same way they were served on Thanksgiving. Other people (like me) like the leftovers transformed into something else. Turkey is the easiest food to work with since you can basically treat it like chicken. And whatever you won’t eat by Sunday can be frozen for soup next month.
I put together this salad with a few of my favorite ingredients (dates, roasted red peppers, rice) and combined them with cooked turkey for a fabulous and flavorful salad with Middle Eastern flavors — very different from last night’s dinner. This will make for a light, but hearty lunch meal or even dinner. If you don’t have the fresh herbs, don’t worry about it.
I also start my turkey stock first thing Friday morning, and then turkey and barley soup will be on the menu Saturday. Enjoy the rest of the weekend!
- 2 cups leftover turkey meat, sliced or diced
- For the dressing:
- 3 Tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 2 Tablespoons tahini (I used raw)
- 4 Tablespoons unrefined, cold-pressed extra-virgin olive oil
- ¾ teaspoon sea salt
- freshly ground black pepper to taste
- ¼ cup fresh dill fronds
- 2 Tablespoons fresh mint leaves
- 1 cup brown rice, cooked according to package directions and cooled (or use less rice, if desired. In this image, I used about 1 cup cooked rice)
- 6 cups lightly packed baby spinach leaves (about 3 ounces)
- 6 Medjool dates, pitted and chopped
- ½ cup pitted green olives, sliced lengthwise
- ¼ cup pine nuts, toasted
- 6 ounces diced fire-roasted red peppers, about 1 cup
- To make dressing, add all ingredients to a blender and blend until combined.
- Place all of the ingredients in a large serving bowl and toss with dressing.
2 Comments
This looks so yummy and healthy even though with the cool weather & rain coming in Sacramento I’m loving your soup ideas too.
I’m really trying to turn over a new leaf in our home…cooking a bit more healthfully & lightening things up as my hubby does most the cooking & seems “allergic” to dishes. However he only does quick fast cooking few recipes, so it’ll be up to me unless I can co-opt him into some of your recipes.
Thanks Pamela – enjoy your recipes & blog headed out to buy your cookbook today!
Thanks, Debbie! You’ll love the book! Funny, my husband is “allergic” to some healthy foods that he doesn’t enjoy ;).