I hope you have had a “foodful” celebration. Before I go further, I like to take this moment to wish everyone a Happy Holiday and a (super!) big thank you for your time to read and comment on my blog. I really appreciate it. 🙂

I know some of you couldn’t even think of food after a big feast. I was having a food hangover after Christmas eve and before I got time to recover, another wave of Christmas feast, hosted by my dear friends, totally swept my appetite away. Despite feeling completely feast-out on Boxing Day, I have YOUR leftovers to think about. Yes, you read it right, it’s YOUR and NOT MY leftovers.

For this year’s Christmas eve, I have prepared 2 roast chickens, stuffings, polenta-crusted potatoes, rice salads and fruit salad. Not too elaborate as compared to others but it was more than enough for a party of three. The only leftover I was left with was cooked rice, that’s about it. Since holiday season, in my opinion, is not the time to make fried rice – which is a reminder of a mid-busy-work-week quick dinner plan – I was glad that my memory bank has reminded me the rice cakes recipe I have came across ages ago.

As I found this to be a versatile recipe, I’d love to share it with the lucky people who ended up with a mountain full of leftovers. Hope this helps! 😀

Cheesy Rice Cake with Smoked Chicken & Sundried Tomatoes

(tweaked from Super Food Ideas – Issue 56 February 2005)

Fills a 20cm (7.9 inches) square pan, 3.8cm (1.5inch) deep

Ingredients:

3 cups cooked rice (about 1.5 cup of uncooked rice)

1 cup sundried tomatoes, roughly chopped

2 cups shredded cheese (mine was a pizza mix consisting of parmesan, cheddar and mozzarella)

3 smoked chicken drumsticks (or 1 large chicken breast), diced

1 tbsp dried oregano

1 medium sized onion, diced ( the magazine specified to slice the onion which I followed obediently, but I think dicing is more appropriate in this recipe – to avoid strings of onions sticking out when you slice the cake)

4 eggs, lightly beaten

Salt and black pepper

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 200 degree Celsius / 392 degrees Fahrenheit. Line the bottom of 20cm (7.9 inchese) square tin with baking paper and grease the sides.

2. If using uncooked rice, cook rice according to absorption method on packet. Rinse and set aside to cool. Skip this step if you already have rice leftover from previous meals.

3. Place rice, chicken, tomatoes, 1.5 cups of cheese, onions, oregano, eggs, salt and pepper into a large bowl. Mix well to combine.

4. Spoon mixture into prepared pan. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake for 30 minutes or until cakes are firm to the touch and light golden.

5. Stand in pan for 5 minutes. Run a flat-edged knife around edges of cakes. Turn onto a plate and serve.

Note:

This is a lunch box recipe which means the cake can be serve hot, at room temperature and even cold. If you wish to turn this into pack lunch, after running the knife around edges of cake, let it cool completely and place into an airtight container. Refrigerate until ready to pack into lunch boxes.

To me, this is one of my favourite recipes which allows me to turn leftovers into a good meal.

Instead of smoked chicken — leftover roast meat i.e. beef & turkey and ham.

Instead of sundried tomatoes — olives, marinated artichokes etc.

Instead of dried oregano – leftover fresh herbs from roasting, otherwise dried herbs from your pantry is ok too.

Instead of chopped onions – chives and spring onions.

{Enjoy!}