I truly love eating—I love the process of cooking and assembling my meals, tasting delicious dishes I could never prepare at restaurants, and having leftovers of the foods I’ve enjoyed. I’m like my dad in the sense that I can eat the same leftover meals over and over until the food is gone, and unlike my partner and my mom who are the exact opposite. Nearly every dinner I’ve eaten at home with my dad consists of the meal we’ve bought or made and five or six other containers of tsukemono, salad, heated vegetable mixes, and leftovers from lunches or dinners past. And while the idea of washing more than the plates and utensils necessary gives me stress (I hate washing dishes!), I understand the desire to eat what is left and save the foods that bring joy. One way that I celebrate the remaining dishes in my fridge is by creating something different and delicious with the remaining foods like this Chipotle inspired bowl I put together a few days ago! Dad recently roasted a vat of carnitas and kindly shared the meats with my sister Megan and me. I initially shredded the pork on top of a tiny nacho bed, but for the rest of the meat, I immediately thought of a Chipotle bowl. I’ve only had Chipotle twice in my life, but I love watching videos of what people order at the chain and the resulting bowls (see how much I love bowls of foods?) or burritos. To use up my incredible leftover carnitas, I started with a bed of soft lettuce mix topped with a small scoop of day-old rice. I roasted broccoli and asparagus the day before, so both of the veggies were added on top along with shreds and shreds of juicy carnitas. I topped the meat with the five remaining cherry tomatoes in my fridge and several scoops of medium chunky salsa for a bit of heat and flavor. The resulting bowl was absurdly delicious and hits all of Abbey Sharp’s Hunger Crushing Combo factors and it’s all thanks to my dad’s passed-down eating habits!
