This year I’ve designated the week after Thanksgiving as my between-feasts reset. The last of the turkey leftovers have been devoured, but all that December cookie making has yet to begin, so it’s a fine time to clean out the fridge, reorganize the pantry and focus on lighter meals loaded with wholesome vegetables.
My lemony pasta with braised white beans (above) is an excellent way to reset. It’s my new take on a classic pasta and bean recipe: lemon zest and juice add brightness, as do the quick-marinated cherry tomatoes stirred in at the end. And it’s speedy, too, leaving you a minute to both catch your breath and wipe down the vegetable drawer.
Featured Recipe
Lemony Pasta With Braised White Beans
As long as you’re in there, you might take this opportunity to rescue those desultory greens on the verge of wilting (a constant pursuit in my house). Greens give most soups a nice glow up, even in recipes that don’t normally call for them. Case in point: You could stir a few handfuls into Ham El-Waylly’s vegetable tortilla soup along with the purple cabbage. I also love the lightness of greens in a rib-sticking split pea soup.
That goes double for stews: Any combination of greens — wilting or otherwise — will add color and flavor to my chickpea stew with orzo and mustard greens. This is also a wonderful way to use other vegetable drawer overstayers: the last few stalks of celery; a couple of carrots; those stray scallions. Chop ‘em up and let them simmer together into something harmonious and fragrant.
On the crispier, meatier side of things, Kay Chun’s chicken katsu, made from pounded chicken cutlets and panko, has an irresistibly crunchy crust that yields to juicy meat within. It’s served with a traditional clove and ginger-scented tonkatsu sauce.
Feeling fish-y? Ali Slagle’s fish larb is light and fresh, practically vibrating with its mix of lime juice, fish sauce and sliced shallots. Toasted rice, pulverized into a powder with a mortar and pestle or spice grinder, adds body and a nutty, earthy character.
Assuming you’re still making your way through last week’s leftover sweets, you may as well get a jump on the next holiday. Start by marinating a mound of dried fruit in white rum and port, to bake into a deeply spiced, ultra-moist Caribbean black cake. The recipe, by Marva Adams-Miller and adapted by Ramin Ganeshram, calls for soaking a mix of raisins, currants, prunes and cherries for a least a month. But there’s also a shortcut that reduces that time to overnight. Consider doubling the fruit, and using half this year and half next year — have (halve?) your cake and eat it too!
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That’s all for now, I’ll see you on Monday.
