So, got anything going on later this week?
Are you celebrating Christmas or Hanukkah (or both!) on Wednesday? Or will it be just another weeknight? Whatever’s on your horizon, I do hope you have your menu figured out. Because no matter what your plans are, it might be tricky to roll into the supermarket at 7 p.m. and just wing it.
I jest; I know you’ve got it sorted. (And just in case you don’t, we have so many excellent holiday ideas for you here.)
Well and good, but what about tonight? Will dinner be a ramp-up to holiday extravagance? Or do you need one more day of quiet normality and lighter eating before the carby, sugary onslaught?
If the second option sounds better, consider going meatless with Hetty “Caul Me!” Lui McKinnon’s sweet and sour cauliflower. In her vegetarian riff on sweet and sour dishes at Chinese American restaurants, cauliflower stands in for chicken or pork. Hetty has streamlined the preparation for us, too. Instead of tossing the florets into a pot of sizzling oil, she roasts them on a sheet pan or in an air fryer, coating them in a dusting of cornstarch so the edges crisp up gloriously as they cook. The secret to the brick-red sauce is ketchup, which provides a pivotal sweetness tempered by vinegar, soy sauce and garlic.
Featured Recipe
Sweet and Sour Cauliflower
Also on the light side, but still loaded with vegetables, Nargisse Benkabbou’s chickpea-chicken salad with green harissa dressing gives the main dish treatment to tayb o’hari, a Moroccan street snack of warm chickpeas sprinkled with spices. Nagisse adds chicken for protein and heartiness, along with fresh tomatoes for their juicy brightness.
Or if you’re ready to start the holiday cheer, you can’t do better than Eric Kim’s take on shrimp cocktail. He maximizes the sweet flavor of the crustaceans by poaching them in an intense broth spiked with celery seeds and cayenne. After giving them an ice bath to keep them succulent, he serves them with both a traditional cocktail sauce and a garlicky dill butter that somehow makes the shrimp taste a little like lobster. Now that’s a party!
You could serve it as dinner, maybe with Ali Slagle’s simple, plush textured cucumber and avocado salad to add some greenery and round things out.
Or add your green matter with Nancy Harmon Jenkins’s pasta, green beans and potatoes with pesto, a beloved Italian classic that’s easy, pleasing and oh so elegant. And if you substitute store-bought pesto for the homemade kind (or use some pesto you’ve stashed in the freezer), this already speedy meal will be ready in the time it takes the pasta to cook.
Then for dessert, have you ever had eggnog made from scratch? After my first sip, I knew I’d never go back to the stuff in the carton. You do need to make a custard, but it’s not at all hard and very worth it. To me, homemade eggnog tastes like a cross between a fluffy pudding and a milkshake, sipped on a cloud. Don’t stint on the nutmeg, which, along with good dark rum, is what gives eggnog its extra-special verve.
Naturally, you’ll want to subscribe to get all of these holiday and other day recipes, and so many more. If you need any technical help, the brilliant people at cookingcare@nytimes.com are there for you. And I’m at hellomelissa@nytimes.com if you want to say hi.
That’s all for now. My colleague Mia Leimkuhler will be here to greet you on Wednesday. May the day be filled with deliciousness for you and everyone you love.
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