Current and constant cravingsThere’s a type of post I’ve been seeing recently on Instagram where folks record themselves whenever they want to buy something, as a way to practice impulse control. Like any good internet trend, this has spun in approximately one million different directions. In one video, a man simply rattles off cravings as they strike: a mango Popsicle, fettuccine Alfredo, a skinny cigarette. In another, a woman films herself saying “Taco Bell” every time she wants, well, Taco Bell. This newsletter is often an exercise in acknowledging cravings, not to control my impulses but to document them and encourage more. Yeah, I made that, and I’m definitely making this tonight. But there’s no more honest catalog of my cravings than my very personal, very private Recipe Box. What’s in there? Wouldn’t you like to know. OK, I’ll tell you. At the top is Ali Slagle’s one-pot Cheddar tomato mac, and I want it desperately. Nay, I need it. Ali is something of a fantasy world builder here, and this dish a freakish chimera of comfort food: the head of mac and cheese, the body of tomatoey pasta, the wings of grilled cheese, the tail of tomato soup. A more direct person, like our reader Becca N., might call it a “sophisticated version of SpaghettiOs.” I hope you’ll call it dinner. It’s a great use of a whole can or whole tube of tomato paste, which might be top of mind based on the hundreds of emails I got about the ingredient last week (more on that below). A hankering for a summery tomato in the dead of winter, satisfied by shelf-stable paste, makes a lot of sense. But it’s not all I yearn for. Porridge, in its many forms, has been especially resonant of late. If I don’t make Zaynab Issa’s sticky date and brown butter oatmeal soon, I fear something terrible will happen to me. I was reminded of it the other night as I perused the New York Times Cooking app’s newish “inspiration” tab — my latest alternative to the bedtime doomscroll — and saw Zaynab make a pot. I haven’t stopped thinking about it since. She finishes it with a little heavy cream and flaky salt for a delightfully decadent breakfast. Sticky Date and Brown Butter OatmealAnd then savory porridge for dinner, to strike the craving down for good. Kay Chun’s vegan mushroom juk will do the trick, garnished with plenty of cilantro, scallions and thinly sliced chiles. But I also might hard-sear some oyster mushrooms into faux chicharrones (as in these tacos) to put on top. Right now I crave the hydrating crunch of cabbage, fresh and zippily dressed, so I saved Melissa Clark’s Vietnamese-inspired cabbage salad with that in mind. But I’m more often drawn to the tender, caramelized leaves of cooked cabbage, so I squirreled away Kristina Felix’s recipe for roasted cabbage salad with spicy lime dressing as well. Melissa tops her salad with cubes of pan-fried tofu, while Kristina adds heft to hers with oven-golden tempeh. Choose your fighter. Both call for fish sauce, but you can substitute soy sauce or a vegan fish sauce product. And you know what? I, like the guy in the video, want fettuccine Alfredo! I always crave a little heat and a lot of greens. For a swift remedy, I’ll turn to Genevieve Ko’s chile crisp fettuccine Alfredo.
One-Pot Cheddar Tomato Mac
Mushroom Juk
Vietnamese-Inspired Cabbage Salad With TofuFor a limited time, you can enjoy free access to the recipes in this newsletter in our app. Download it on your iOS or Android device and create a free account to get started. One More Thing!I cannot remember the last time I received as many emails in response to a newsletter as I did last week. The people want to talk tomato paste! Namely, freezing it. My preferred method is shared by many of you: Scoop tablespoons of paste onto a plate or a sheet tray lined with parchment paper and pop them into the freezer until they’re solid. Store the frozen blobs in a container or a zip-top bag to avoid waste. Some of you like to use silicone ice cube trays for this. Some trays hold one tablespoon per cube, others two tablespoons. Readers wrote that they like to put leftover paste into a zip-top bag, flatten it out and make a grid of indentations so that it’s easy to snap off a piece once the mass is frozen. And at least one person wrote in about the push-pop method: opening both ends of the can and pushing the base upward as you use it. Store the whole can in a larger, airtight jar or container. Happy freezing, and see you next week! Email us at theveggie@nytimes.com. Newsletters are archived here. Reach out to my colleagues at cookingcare@nytimes.com if you have questions about your account.
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