Leftover cooked chicken or turkey became a range of Bisquick’s “impossible” pie series such as this one, or other pot pies. A Sunday ham bought on sale was turned into split pea soup. But my favorite by far, and the one I have adopted into my own kitchen with regular frequency, is Hong Kong Horrigan.

Hong Kong Horrigan…aka what to do with leftover grilled steak and clean out the veggie drawer at the same time. Probably not a PC name in 2011, but it’s vintage now.

Eleven years ago I quizzed my new husband on what I needed to buy to whip up one of his favorite nostalgic meals. With an eyebrow raised, he answered me. “We don’t buy stuff for Hong Kong Horrigan. Hong Kong Horrigan is made from leftover London broil and whatever veggies we have, maybe even a bag of frozen vegetables if necessary. Add some peanuts or chow mein noodles and you’re in business.”

I scratched my head, confused. No recipe? As a newlywed living 300 plus miles away from my own parents, I was teaching myself to cook from books. Winging it was not my thing. It still isn’t, really. Research first, work second. Measure twice, cut once.

But I decided to trust, and what I have learned over the years is that for each one of our six individual families, Hong Kong Horrigan is a unique concoction that can only evolve based on our standard weekly cooking and shopping lists.

One night a few years ago I found myself with half a pork tenderloin that had been marinated in a ginger sauce and grilled earlier in the week. I sliced it up, grabbed some veggies, a can of baby corn, and some toasted sesame oil to make a stir fry.

Jim was pleased and I was so proud:  I had arrived, I had done it!

I emailed my mother-in-law in Cincinnati to ask if the dish would still be considered authentic with pork instead of beef. She typed back, verbatim “Methinks you have invented a new dish: Shanghai Horrigan?”

Whether you use leftover grilled beef, pork, chicken, shrimp, or even tofu, learning to make a stir fry out of what you have in the fridge is an indispensable skill that everyone should learn.

Maybe yours is as simple as leftover veggies with soy sauce and rice. Maybe it’s more elaborate and slightly planned like mine. It’s a great way to teach yourself to eat in the newer, more healthful style of reduced meat portions, and it’s good for your budget and schedule as well.

Read more by Robin Horrigan

Robin Horrigan writes the column Cooking from the Carpool Lane. She lives on Boston’s south shore and is a stay at home Mom to Ryan, seven, and Maegan, three. Her fascination with cooking sprouted from watching Julia Child cook on a little black and white TV; Robin helped her Mom in the kitchen until she was old enough to ask Santa for her very own copy of The Joy of Cooking. She experiments with all kinds of cooking and baking, from quick weeknight dinners and easy cookies to long simmering weekend stews and complicated, fancy desserts. Ryan thinks if his Mom will ever be famous, it will be “for her awesome cookies.” Her friends say it will be for the cocktails. Either way, if she’s not doing volunteer work or shopping for shoes, you’ll probably find her in the kitchen. Robin’s favorite recipe.

Equipment
Roasting pan or ceramic casserole

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

2. Cut the onions into wedges and the potatoes into 1-inch cubes. Spread them over the bottom of the baking dish.

3. In a small dish, combine salt and pepper in a 2:1 ratio.

4. Open the chicken over the sink and let any residual juices or blood drain. Reach into the cavity to see if there are any giblets left inside. If so remove them, and either discard them or save them to make soup stock at a later time. You’ll want to take a paper towel and pat dry your chicken. Please DO NOT rinse your chicken; running water and raw chicken can help spread salmonella.

5. Place the chicken breast side up over the bed of onions and potatoes. Drizzle the exterior and the cavity of the chicken with olive oil, and then sprinkle liberally with the salt and pepper blend.

6. If you have them on hand, you could put lemon or orange wedges, garlic cloves, or fresh herbs in the cavity at this point to infuse a bit more flavor.

7. Put the chicken in the oven, and set the timer for one hour (the general rule is 20 minutes for every pound of chicken you’re cooking).

8. Test the chicken for doneness. This can be done in a few ways. One is to jiggle the drumstick a little and see if the juices run clear (clear juices means it’s done, red juices means it’s not ready yet). You can also insert an instant-read thermometer into the thickest part of the chicken. It’s done if it reads 165. If the chicken isn’t ready, put it back in the oven for 10-15 minutes and re-test.

9. Place your chicken on a platter over the bed of roasted potatoes and onions. Enjoy!

NOTE: To flavor your chicken just a bit more you can apply an herb butter. This requires you to chop fresh herbs like rosemary or thyme, and mash them into room-temperature butter. Carefully lift the chicken skin to prevent ripping, and massage the butter under the skin so it spread throughout the chicken.

Laura Troyani heads up Marketing and Business Development for Plummelo. Not content with just being another behind-the-scenes pencil pusher, Laura decided to give blogging a shot and writes practical, everyday tips for the home cook (or aspiring home cook). Laura’s favorite foods are ice cream, olive oil, ice cream, parmesan cheese, ice cream, and occasionally ice cream.

More often than not, I come home from the kindergarten pick-up at 11:30 and start the scavenger hunt for lunch. I am usually so hungry and know it will take a few minutes, so I start nibbling on something while I make my daughter’s lunch and figure out what I am going to eat. I grab a Diet Coke and reach for my old standby, pretzels. This gets me nowhere, really… because then I am thinking “what goes with pretzels and Diet Coke?”

My lunch often ends up as a veggie burger or a wrap of some kind–maybe turkey and avocado or tuna salad, maybe leftover beans and rice. Almost anything tastes good in a tortilla. (I much prefer wraps to sandwiches.)

I am now trying, when possible, to actually plan lunch. Leftovers from the previous night’s dinner are often a good choice. Otherwise I go to the wrap.

On occasion though, I have a friend over for lunch. This really requires planning. I have a couple of ideas in my mental stash for when I need an above average lunch.

One of my favorites is chicken salad, which–you guessed it–I make into a wrap. My favorite is Cranberry Almond Chicken Salad. Using a rotisserie chicken as the base is my preference, but when that’s not possible, I cook and dice breasts. In a real pinch I have found canned will suffice (I like the Kirkland premium chunk chicken from Costco). When possible, of course, I make enough chicken salad to last two lunches.

Another of my favorite lunches that I have been known to serve to company is a grain-based salad. If I am not entertaining, I make a big bowl of it to last a few days. If you take lunch to work or school, these salads travel easily in a container as well.

One of my favorites is barley with black eyed peas, tomatoes, diced red or yellow peppers and corn tossed with a lime vinegarette.

Quinoa and wheat berry salads are also among my favorites. I have made all of these (see box) and several other variations.

While there is some prep time required, especially for the wheat berries (which must simmer for almost an hour), I find these dishes completely worth the time. Not only are they quite nutritious, but definitely hearty, and I have also found they can easily impress a friend.