Makeover Your Leftovers: Beef Sirloin Tip Roast Turned Lunch

It’s no secret that I love leftovers. For one thing, it’s the easiest and most efficient way to use up what’s left of the previous night’s dinner – wrap up your leftovers and take them for lunch the next day! Plus, some of my favorite foods are best made in large batches, such as chili, beef stew, meatloaf…it’s pretty hard to cook just one serving of something when you’re cooking from scratch, unless you’re making eggs or a single piece or chicken or fish. But in my personal opinion, if you’re going to go ahead and cook you might as well make enough to use for a couple of meals, right?

The thing is, sometimes eating the same exact leftovers gets pretty dry. A steaming bowl of chili is delicious two or three times, but by the fourth or fifth serving? I find myself wanting something else. Same goes for meatloaf, or pork tenderloin. While I don’t always have the creativity to come up with new ways to eat the same old thing, this is where my husband is particularly gifted. He would be an excellent candidate for the Leftovers edition of Chopped – he can look at a refrigerator full of odds and ends and come up with some creative meal that has me scratching my head and thinking, “where did this come from?”

And so it goes with the Beef Sirloin Tip Roast we made for dinner the other night. We had a surprising amount of beef left over, and Kevin almost immediately knew what he was going to make for lunch the next day. Introducing – grilled roast beef and cheese sandwiches!

Of course the picture doesn’t do it justice, and although the bread is gluten free this meal is definitely not paleo or Whole30 approved. It is, however, a great way of using up leftover roast beef and a nice change from simply eating the same old meat and vegetables three days in a row. It’s also super simple; and paired with steaming bowls of homemade split pea and ham soup it was a perfect cold weather meal.

Technically this meal doesn’t even justify a recipe, but I’ll walk you through our steps just for posterity. First, set a small skillet to medium-high heat. While the pan is heating up, butter two slices of gluten free bread (tip: using mayonnaise to grill the bread is even better, but we didn’t have any made). Then, microwave a few slices of roast beef just enough to warm the meat but not cook it. Once the skillet is hot, lay one slice of bread butter or mayo side down in the pan, then layer some sliced or shredded cheese, the roast beef, some more cheese, and the other slice of bread, butter side up. (To kick your sandwich up another notch, add some sliced tomato and avocado.) Grill on one side for 2-3 minutes until golden brown, then very carefully flip the sandwich to the other side. Grill until golden brown and the cheese is melted.