Good morning! Today we have for you:
Fridge salad is your friend
Hello! I hope your 2026 is off to a nice start. Today, I would like to tell you about my fridge salads. A fridge salad is a big, bold, crunchy mix of vegetables that is just as good freshly made as it is after a day or two in the fridge. Fridge salads make excellent next-day lunches and good grazing snacks. They’re ready to pair with your protein of choice for a complete dinner and easy to alter based on what you have on hand and what your preferences are. Right now, there is a quart container of Lisa Donovan’s French lentil salad hanging out in my fridge. (I skipped the rosemary and thyme because I didn’t have them, and I doubled the mustard because I really love mustard.) I made it a couple of nights ago to eat with some roasted chicken; it’s been my lunch and after-work snack since then. When that’s polished off, my next fridge salad will be Ali Slagle’s Italian broccoli salad. The “Italian” part comes from the fact that Ali mixes thinly sliced broccoli florets and stems (and those leaves, if you’re lucky) with the goodies you’d typically find in an Italian sub: shallots, pickled peppers, olives, provolone and a red wine vinegar dressing. Add more protein, she suggests, by tossing in cured meats, chickpeas, lentils or mozzarella; if you really want to channel those sub sandwich vibes, I think some croutons would be pretty clever. I’m going to follow a suggestion from A Reader (actual commenter’s username) and toss in some raisins or dried cranberries for chewy pops of sweetness. As the salad sits, the dried fruit will absorb the salty, tangy, acidic flavors of the dish. We love a fridge salad! Featured Recipe Italian Broccoli SaladLooking for more revitalizing and restorative recipes for the new year? The staff of Food and Cooking has compiled a bunch of our favorites in this collection of 14 recipes we use to reset after weeks (OK, months) of holiday eating. That’s where I was reminded of the brilliance of Ali’s broccoli dish, and of this gorgeous cucumber pomegranate salad from Naz Deravian.
Today’s specialsRed curry chicken and rice bowls: One of my 2026 resolutions is to do a better job of building meals around the condiment odds and ends I have in my fridge so that I can actually, finally use them up. I have a little tub of red curry paste with about a third of a cup left in it, which is exactly what I need for this new chicken and rice dish from Ali. (Team chicken breast, this one’s for you!) Pesto-roasted salmon with tomatoes and white beans: Did you make a bunch of pesto this summer and stash it in your freezer? If so, you’ll want to defrost some for this five-star, five-ingredient dinner from Sheela Prakash. Using store-bought? Don’t worry, the garlicky roasted cherry tomatoes and the saline umami of the salmon will more than lift that trusty little jar. Maraq misir (red lentil soup): You’ll need xawaash, a Somali spice blend including cumin, coriander, cloves, cinnamon, cardamom and turmeric, to make this hearty and sustaining lentil soup by Ifrah F. Ahmed; she includes instructions for making your own in the recipe’s tip. And once you have your xawaash, you can use it to make more of Ifrah’s five-star recipes: malaay qumbe (coconut fish curry), suqaar digaag (spiced chicken and vegetable sauté) and maraq digaag (spiced chicken soup).
And before you goMy favorite part of the new Pizza Interview with Finn Wolfhard and Natalia Dyer is when Wolfhard shouts out Danbo in Vancouver, British Columbia, because I went to the Robson location exactly once, years ago, and I’m still missing its vegan miso ramen. Read excerpts from the full interview here, and click here or on the image below to watch the video.
Thanks for reading!
|
.jpg)
