Cold Turkey

About author / Victoria Wesseler

Healthy eating advocate; master gardener; local food expert. Even veggie haters love her recipes.

I’ve eaten Thanksgiving dinner at a restaurant twice in my life. Once was with my first husband and our respective families. We went to a buffet where the food and the service were, in a word, horrible. And you could say that more than the turkey was cold. The following year, as a newly single woman, I ate Thanksgiving dinner out again. Two of my longtime girlfriends and I went to a brunch where we were the first to arrive as soon as the doors opened at 10:00 a.m. and we were the last to leave several hours later! The food, company, and service were wonderful.

Read into all that what you will, but dining out for Thanksgiving can be great with the exception of one thing (notwithstanding a soon-to-be ex-husband and his entire family at the table) -- there’s no leftover turkey. The same problem applies to people who go to dinner at a friend or family member’s home. When that Thanksgiving evening urge for a cold turkey sandwich hits, they’re facing an empty fridge.

Given that situation, I believe that all restaurants serving Thanksgiving dinners should have a menu item offering cold turkey and dressing for diners to take home for sandwiches later that evening. And the same suggestion goes for people who have family and friends over to their home for the holiday meal. To solve that problem for our 20+ guests each year, my husband and I roast two large turkeys on Thanksgiving. One to serve at dinner and one that we slice up for our guests to take home with them.

During this time of year, magazines, television programs, and websites are full of creative ideas for using your leftover turkey. The “cold turkey, dressing, and plenty of salt on top of it all” sandwich is, of course, a must. And for some reason that sandwich always tastes best on Thanksgiving evening just a few short hours after you have probably eaten more than you should and have sworn off food for good. Which in my case lasts for about 4 hours!

For a quick lunch on the day after Thanksgiving, I use leftover turkey to make a simple burrito. The spicy flavor of the salsa and red onion in the filling perks up the mild turkey meat, the corn and black beans give it a nice texture, and the microwave warm-up is a welcome reprieve from the previous day’s cooking marathon. Best of all, this easy, tasty, and quick recipe takes up very little of my time in the kitchen; giving me more hours to spend at all those wonderful after Thanksgiving Day sales.

Serves/Makes: 6

• 2 cups cooked turkey meat, shredded
• 1/2 cup canned yellow corn kernels, drained and rinsed
• 1/2 cup canned black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/4 cup minced red or white onion
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/2 cup low fat sour cream
• 1/2 cup chunky salsa, drained
• 1 cup shredded Mexican cheese blend
• 6 large tortillas

***Garnish***

• 1 cup chunky salsa
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 cup avocado chunks
• 1 cup shredded Mexican cheese blend