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Jane Grigson points out in her book English Food that this dish, borrowed from a Hindu creation of rice and lentils called khichri, became a favorite breakfast item among the Brits. However, she warns, it is only as good as the fish that goes into it, so don’t use tired leftovers. But good fish that has been recently and carefully prepared (i.e., not overcooked) is fine, and be generous with the butter and the cream. I have made this with salmon, flounder, and red snapper—all good.

Here’s a simple Japanese way with cooked rice that Hiroko Shimbo showed me when I asked her one day what she would do with leftover rice. It’s called sushi salad because it’s made with sushi rice. As Hiroko points out so persuasively in her book The Sushi Experience, it’s the rice that makes it sushi, not all the various garnishes or tasty bits that are wrapped—or, in this case, tossed—in the seasoned rice. This is one of those dishes that are subject to variations depending on the season, but it’s hard to improve on the following intoxicatingly delicious summer version.

In her most recent book, Lidia Cooks from the Heart of Italy, the great Italian cook Lidia Bastianich introduces us to various risottos that don’t require the patient long cooking and stirring as you pour hot liquid into the rice little by little. In this simpler version,you simply stir the rice into hot chicken broth along with the embellishment ingredients, and when it all comes to a boil, slap on the lid, and cook at a brisk simmer for about 17 minutes. And it’s done—a whole delicious and satisfying dinner.

You can use almost any kind of leftover fish in this salad.

One of my favorite suppers is a good sausage with warm potato salad. I love the way the sausage juices mingle with the tender new potatoes bathed in a mustardy vinaigrette—a very French taste that makes me nostalgic.

Endive is an overlooked vegetable in America—at least, few people cook it. But it makes a very special lunch or supper dish when done this way.

Here is a good way to use up leftover chicken that makes a full, satisfying meal.

It’s hard to beat a good chicken salad, and it is open to variations, so you need not get tired of it. I prefer a chicken salad that isn’t smothered in so much mayonnaise that you can’t taste much else, so I tend to go easy on the mayo and temper it with a little yogurt. But play with the dressing to suit your own taste.

I concocted these pancakes one night when I happened to have an ear of corn left over and a small piece of salmon I’d cooked the night before. It turned out to be a lovely, natural marriage of flavor

Here’s another way of giving leftover lamb new life. I’d always thought that this sumptuous Middle Eastern dish that envelops lamb in eggplant was quite a production, but done this way it takes less than half an hour to put together and is worth every minute of effort.

The large portobello mushroom makes a natural saucerlike container for tasty fillings. For modest appetites, one amply stuffed big mushroom will make a satisfying lunch or supper dish, but if you’re really hungry, make two.

Anyone who has a garden knows about the pressure to eat up the zucchini you’ve planted. You hate to see it go to waste. But the advantage to growing your own is that you can harvest the zucchini while they are still very young and have a more intense flavor (and you can use the male blossoms, too). So here’s one more delicious way of appreciating this prolific vegetable. You can leave out the prosciutto and peppers if you like, but they do add considerable zest.

The other day, at a French brasserie across the street from our offices in New York, I ordered their single soufflé served with a green salad. It was a perfect lunch, and I went away wondering why I didn’t make soufflés anymore. It’s not only a good way to use up some of the bits of cheeses you may have around, as well as other leftovers that need reincarnation, but it’s lovely to behold and scrumptious to eat. But to make it for one? I was sure it could be done, so I purchased myself a one-person, fluted soufflé dish, 2 3/4 inches high and 4 inches in diameter, and proved that it could. My recipe for one is based on the eight pages of careful instructions that Julia Child devoted to making the perfect soufflé in Mastering the Art of French Cooking.

Eggplant is a particularly good receptacle for leftovers, such as cooked rice or grains and the remains of a roast. When I’m using eggplant, I usually roast it in the morning, or the night before I’m going to stuff it. Then it takes only about 40 minutes to be ready to enjoy. This stuffed eggplant is good hot, warm, or at room temperature, so you can to take it on a picnic, or to the park for lunch.

A few hard-boiled eggs are a good staple to have on hand to mix into a salad, garnish a plate of cold vegetables, make a quick sandwich for lunch, or use in my favorite Sauce Gribiche (see page 160). So when you’re boiling an egg, do one or two extra.

Once you’ve made your small amount of hollandaise sauce, it is simple to put together that heavenly creation, egg (or eggs) Benedict,and enjoy it all alone for a Sunday brunch.

Don’t let yourself be frightened at the prospect of making an omelet. The more you make, the easier it will be, and it only takes minutes to produce a seductive oval mound of yellow eggs wrapped around a filling that provides just the right complement. An omelet can make a whole meal and is a great receptacle for whatever little bits of things you’ve stored in your fridge. So I’ll give only proportions and suggestions for various fillings, not specific directions for preparing each one. That way, you can use mine as guidelines to make your own. It is important to have a good nonstick omelet pan. Mine is 6 1/2 inches in diameter at the base and 8 inches across the top, the size I like for a two-egg omelet, and I reserve it for only that purpose. If you prefer a slightly thinner, more spread-out omelet, get a pan with an 8-inch bottom diameter.

Use a gratin dish that holds about 1 cup if you’re baking only one egg , and a slightly larger dish if you want to do two.