Ideas for utilizing Thanksgiving leftovers

LOS ANGELES Most of us start with a turkey sandwich. Owner of both Lucque and Tavern restaurants, chef Suzanne Goin says there's no shame in that.

"I have to put a vote in for the typical turkey sandwich made really well because it's one of my favorite things on earth," Goin said.

Goin's turkey sandwich has stuffing, the slow-roasted turkey breast, the cranberry sauce, mayonnaise and crunchy lettuce on a sourdough bread.

Goin also likes pulling the turkey leg to put a spin on the turkey sandwich with a pulled turkey bun.

"If you just pull the meat off the leg and then toss it with a little BBQ sauce, and then we put that on our house-made Challah bun," Goin said.

Serve it with pickles and sweet potato chips, and you've got great taste and crunch.

For your leftover squash, try making a vegetarian squash gratin.

Goin makes a "rajas," which is roasted poblano chilies, onions and cream - all baked together with the squash or sweet potato, finished with pepitas or little pumpkin seeds.

"You could actually put turkey in there. If you have your leftover turkey, you could layer your turkey in almost like a modern turkey casserole," Goin said.

You can also make a chop salad with leftovers.

Try tossing Romaine, radicchio, turkey, apples, even cheese and bacon, tossed with a mustard vinaigrette and also curried turkey.

"If you like something with chicken, turkey's a pretty easy substitute," Goin said.

The possibilities are endless.

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