You know that holiday season is upon you when you start writing a blog post and it takes almost a week to complete it.  Not complaining though – I’m always a fan of festivities during the month of December.

Last week, I had leftover soup and taco filling (made with beans and peppers) in the refrigerator and was trying to figure out a way to use them both up in a meal.  I’ve been trying to clear out my pantry and refrigerator for the past week by not buying any groceries (except perhaps some perishables) and by making all of our meals out of what is in my pantry or freezer.  It’s a great opportunity to use up ingredients and in my opinion, the best way to ensure that all our food is being consumed and not thrown away because it has expired.

Back to my leftovers project – I had the soup and taco filling, which I decided to mix together and simmer down until the mixture had thickened.  The soup was a pretty basic lentil soup, so didn’t have any strong flavors which is why it worked out well with the taco filling.  I then whipped up some savory crepes by modifying the whole wheat crepe recipe from Isa Chandra Moskowitz‘s cookbook Vegan Brunch.  I filled the crepes with some sharp cheddar, the leftover mixture and some escarole and served them along side some pan fried potatoes and a yogurt-dill sauce (with fresh dill from our garden – yummy!).  I also think this is a much healthier alternative to buying tortillas for quesadillas (besides, I can never use up a full package of tortillas in a week, and this way, I’m making only as much as I can actually consume).

To make 4 crepes:

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup almond milk
• 1/2 cup water
• 3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 tbsp tapioca flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• pepper to taste

1. Put all the ingredients in a blender and blend for about 30 seconds. The batter will be thin.
2. Refrigerate the batter for about an hour
3. Preheat a crepe pan or a large non stick skillet – I bought my crepe pan from Bed Bath and Beyond and think its the perfect weight to be able to swirl around the batter when only using one hand.
4. Lightly spray the pan with oil.
5. Ladle about 1/3 cup of batter into the pan.
6. Lift the burner off the pan and tilt it in a circular motion until the batter spreads a thin layer over the pan. It is important to ensure the batter is thin – if it is thick, it won’t spread evenly (this problem is easily solved by adding more water to the batter).
7. Cook until the top of the crepe is dry and the edges are browned.
8. Fill the crepe with your filling, fold in half and serve.