A fellow mom in the neighborhood posted an image on facebook of potatoes topped with smoked salmon, creme fraiche and red caviar, that she’d made for Thanksgiving. I oohed and ahhed and promised to make the salty-topped potatoes for New Year’s Eve. But I couldn’t wait that long. I made them tonight, for, um, Tuesday Eve?

Because Rose doesn’t like potatoes or creme fraiche, I substituted rice pancakes for the potatoes in her portion, and left out the dairy. For veggies we had sauteed cabbage with fresh cilantro, simple and good. And a watermelon radish salad that looked better than it tasted.

• Fingerling Potatoes with Creme Fraiche, Smoked Salmon & Caviar •
Heat oven to 400 degrees. Cut potatoes (you can also use small, new potatoes) into approx. 3/8″ slices, or just halve your potatoes if they’re small. Toss potatoes with olive oil, salt and pepper and place in one layer, on a baking sheet. Bake potatoes, turning once, until golden, cooked through and no longer sticking to the baking sheet. Top with a piece of smoked salmon, then creme fraiche, then red caviar. Serve on a white platter.

I always find it refreshing to go back to normal eating after the holidays. Tonight was exactly what we needed, like a welcome home for our bellies.

We had Lidia Bastianich’s Basic Risotto, from Lidia’s Italian-American Kitchen cookbook (recipe can be found here). Crispy kale (which I don’t even use a recipe for anymore but if you want a recipe, this one is good). And an orange beet, cilantro and goat cheese salad. I feel like myself again.

• Orange Beet, Cilantro & Goat Cheese Salad •
1 bunch orange beets, approx 8 small beets
olive oil
salt
zest of 1 lemon
2-3 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
1 cup fresh cilantro leaves, coarsely chopped 
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
2 oz plain chevre (soft goat cheese) 

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Wash and trim beets but do not peel.  Place beets on a sheet of foil, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Close up foil and bake beets until soft. When beets are cool enough to handle, slip them from their skins and cut into quarters, or bite-size pieces. Toss beets with lemon zest, rice wine vinegar cilantro and olive oil. Taste and add more oil and vinegar if needed. Pour into a serving dish and top with small chunks of chevre to serve. 

It’s true, we had cabbage again tonight. My friend Britta wondered if it might be getting stinky around here. Surprisingly no, we’ve not yet been plagued by cabbage induced gassiness. However, three dinners and two lunches later, we haven’t even gone through half of the head of cabbage. So you never know.

Tonight’s recipe, Pasta with Caramelized Cabbage, Anchovies & Breadcrumbs was utterly delicious. The spicy, salty, crunchy combo was just up my alley, and I’m always a fan of a high vegetable to pasta ratio.

On the side we had roasted carrots and turnips, loosely based on Roasted Root Vegetables from the Nov/Dec issue of Cooks’s Illustrated magazine. The basic idea is to cut the veggies so that they cook at the same rate based on volume, then olive oil, salt and a hot oven. There’s also a bit about reducing the cooking time by using a microwave, which I ignored because we don’t have a microwave.

I added a whole bunch of cilantro and some red pepper flakes to yesterday’s underwhelming cabbage salad, and turned it into something good. To make it better I took the the shredded cabbage, raw sweet potato pieces and black beans, and added lots of fresh cilantro, red pepper flakes, lime juice, rice wine vinegar and olive oil.

For those guys, I made chicken on sticks. And for me, pan-fried tofu.

• Pan Fried Tofu •
Press tofu in paper towels under a book for 10-30 minutes. Slice in half lengthwise and then into 1/2″ slices. Marinate in soy sauce mixed with honey (to taste). Fry in a little bit of oil in a hot, nonstick, pan until browned on both sides.

Note: I’m tagging this meal as vegetarian because you could easily skip the chicken. Serve with rice or starch of your choice.