We make a concerted effort to recycle as much as possible. Paper, plastic, bottles and cans, and much of the detritus of lifestyle in this century requires that effort. I take the piles to the town Transfer Station weekly and have done so for many years.

It turns out that this all provides a good metaphor for managing leftovers in the refrigerator as well. As an example, I offer this dish which was my lunch for several days this week. Over the course of the week, I had made and consumed beans and rice in separate meals, ending up with leftovers of each. By sautéing some leeks and cutting up a tomato, and heating them up with a little water and olive oil, I was able to turn it into delicious and attractive dish.

Last night for dinner, I prepared some small octopus — cooking it for an hour Sous Vide — and then grilling it outside.

Naturally, there was some little octopi left over, along with the remaining bean/rice concoction, so they were combined for today’s lunch in the last incarnation of those long-ago ingredients.

While I am re-using concepts, I applied recycling to recipes, too. To get inspiration for our dinners, I recently used this blog. I was looking for seasonal successes in years past, so I searched the blog for interesting alternatives from the same season in prior years. Lo and behold, I found a recipe for Homemade Spinach Tagliatelle with Asparagus Sauce in March, 2018, and I decided to replicate it.

Using some leftover cheese filling from a recent ravioli dinner, I made an accompanying dish of zucchini rolls filled with the cheese and a light touch of tomato sauce, and then baked it for 30 minutes.