I found a jar of vindaloo curry paste in the cupboard that my mom had given me a while back. We had just watched “The Hundred-Foot Journey” and I was craving Indian food. I had a full chicken (because they were on special) so I decided to rub the curry paste all over the chicken before I roasted it. Chopped fennel and onion went underneath. I probably should have worn gloves because the curry paste made my hands smell for a full day, no matter how much I washed them. “Here comes old curry hands Hladkowicz” is what the towns people would say…

I roasted the chicken at 350 for 1 hour 45 minutes and let it rest for 15. I made basmati rice and mashed lentils and spinach as sides dishes. Using a few more scoops of curry paste, I sautéed mushrooms, red pepper, tomato and water in a frying pan.

SO GOOD! No, I didn’t make the vindaloo from scratch but seriously, who has the time or money to buy 800 separate spices?! Indian food can be quite complex, but the jarred curry pastes are great for curry in a hurry.

This is where I take leftovers to a whole new level. The next day (or morning because it was 1am) my boyfriend and I ate leftovers as a late night snack because we didn’t have a chance to eat a proper dinner. I wouldn’t recommend eating spicy food right before bed! I had weird dreams.

A few days later I used some curry paste and water to make more sauce which I added to leftover rice, chicken and spinach.

Today I took all the chicken bones and remaining curry paste and made a stock for soup. To flavour the stock I used fennel (the stem parts that you don’t want to eat anyway) carrots, onion, garlic, dried parsley, thyme) covered it with water and let it simmer for 5 hours. You could also do this in your slow cooker on low for about 6 hours. I then strained it and added chopped carrots, mushrooms, fennel, garlic, ginger and broccoli to the broth and let it come to a boil until the veg was cooked. Add a can of coconut milk, let it cook on low for another 5-10 min and your soup is done!

You’ll notice that there is no chicken in this soup. That’s because my boyfriend ate all the leftover chicken I was saving for the soup while I was at the gym. He made a delicious sandwich. He seemed to forget I was making CHICKEN curry soup even though I told him to stir the CHICKEN broth on occasion while I was working out. Such a handsome boy.

With or without pieces of chicken, the soup is super tasty so I guess I can forgive him…

I hope you’ve learned how to love you leftovers. I also hope that I’ve inspired you to label the food in your fridge so hungry little beasts don’t eat all your ingredients!