By the Monday after Thanksgiving we’ve reached the eye of the hurricane, a brief calm between the elaborate feast behind us and the extravagant parties ahead. Let’s give ourselves permission to exhale and, if possible, keep this week just for us and the fam. Gather ye cozy duds while ye may, before the social whirl catches up with us again.
In our house, this means a week of soups, salads and all manner of dishes that use up the leftovers and lay down a vegetable foundation before we plunge headlong into that sea of canapés, dips and cheese boards that December is famous for (did I mention latkes?).
Lidey Heuck’s taverna salad is a fine place to start. This vibrant mix of juicy tomatoes, sweet bell peppers and cucumbers is anchored by seared halloumi and toasted pita and tossed with a pungent, herby red wine vinegar dressing. It’s both sustaining and light.
Featured Recipe
Taverna Salad
Staying with healthful, but a bit heartier, Dawn Perry’s blistered broccoli pasta with walnuts calls for twice as much broccoli as pasta by weight, plus enough grated pecorino and fresh mint leaves to really punch things up.
Now, about that soup. … Being green is easy in the hands of Samin Nosrat, whose silky spinach and cilantro soup has a nutty creaminess from the tahini puréed into the broth and swirled on top as well as earthy verdancy from two large bunches of cilantro. A squeeze of lemon at the end makes it all very bright. It’s a superb way to get your vegetables.
If you’d like to throw some seafood into the mix, Zainab Shah has you covered with her kharra masala fish. She starts by infusing the classic combination of tomatoes and onions with whole spices — coriander, cumin, mustard seed and dried chiles — simmering the mixture until thick and saucy. Then she adds filets of white fish (any kind you like), letting them steam and absorb all the flavors. A garnish of fresh ginger, green chiles and cilantro adds a pungent freshness right at the end.
Finished your Thanksgiving leftovers, but still feeling fowl? Kay Chun’s sheet-pan chicken with artichokes and herbs takes its cue from the rosemary-sage-garlic goodness of porchetta, using canned artichokes to keep things weeknight-easy. The next day, chop up any leftovers, toss them with mayonnaise and enjoy the best ever chicken salad for lunch.
For dessert, everyone knows that December is the beginning of cookie season, which is definitely my favorite season of all (sorry tomato season; you are a close second). Let’s kick things off with Dena Kleiman’s delicate Mexican wedding cookies (a.k.a snowballs, polvorones or Russian tea cakes). Rich with butter and nuts, these crumbly confections are simple to make, especially if you have a food processor, and all too easy to eat. They also keep well, making them the perfect treat to have around, especially when you need a little something sweet at the end of your light and vegetable-filled meal.
You’ll need to subscribe for these and all the other thousands and thousands of recipes at New York Times Cooking. If, along the way, you need any technical help, send an email to [email protected]. And I’m at [email protected] if you want to say hi.
That’s all for now. See you on Wednesday.
The post Time to Eat a Salad appeared first on New York Times.
