Season of shredding (vegetables)Shredding a bunch of root vegetables on a box grater is the sort of kitchen task I find wildly soothing. I was reminded of this over the weekend, as I grated radish after radish for a butter terrine inspired by Sara Tane, a private chef and recipe developer. What a timely nudge, with latke season very much upon us. Hanukkah starts on Sunday, and for those celebrating, I reckon your box grater will see a lot of love over the next eight days — or the grating attachment on your food processor, if you really mean business. Just don’t use either for the pickles in Carolina Gelen’s new recipe for pickle latkes, which benefit from being hand-sliced into matchsticks. This ensures optimal pickle flavor and a drier (read: crunchier) potato mixture. But if the salty and tangy does not tantalize, I know Melissa Clark’s classic potato latkes will. Play the hits! You’ll need little more than potato, onion, flour and egg. Well, you don’t need egg. Melissa also has you covered with vegan latkes that are all about technique, rather than an egg substitute like aquafaba or flax seed. While I have long been devoted to our classic recipe, I think this is my year of mix-ins. In addition to Carolina’s pickle latkes, I’d like to give Melissa’s apple-potato latkes with cinnamon sour cream a go. Latkes: First they’re sour, and then they’re sweet. But if latkes aren’t on the agenda, I encourage you to keep the box grater out and pancake another vegetable, like carrots, zucchini, bell peppers or kale — really whatever you have on hand — for Sohui Kim’s vegetable pajeon, Korean scallion pancakes. Or grab a sharp knife and shred some cabbage for Hetty Lui McKinnon’s five-star noodle okonomiyaki, a loose spin on Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki, with a handful of shortcuts and, of course, no meat or fish. It’s a resourceful recipe, a great use for that last half of cabbage in the crisper and a couple packages of instant ramen, though you can play around with other vegetables, too, like carrots, bean sprouts, broccoli and, yeah, potatoes. “This was tasty, filling, inexpensive and quick,” wrote a reader who added shredded carrot and onion. For those working through one of those big pallets of ramen blocks, you can use up another couple of packages (or udon or egg-free noodles, if that’s what you have) in Nisha Vora’s spicy noodle stir-fry with salt and pepper tofu, packed with green beans, scallions, ginger and cilantro. Nisha calls for previously frozen tofu if you are able to plan ahead, which makes it easier to remove moisture and leads to a crispier texture. I like to throw a block in the freezer when I buy a couple at the store for this very reason. But if you don’t have the time, you can simply press the tofu for a few minutes to drain it. You still have your box grater out, yes? Don’t forget to grate your tofu on the largest holes while you’re at it, for Nisha’s super-savory grated tofu and Alexa Weibel’s perfect crispy tofu tacos. “I’m sold on the grating tofu method,” a reader wrote.
Noodle Okonomiyaki (Cabbage and Egg Pancakes)
Spicy Noodle Stir-Fry With Salt and Pepper Tofu
Crispy Tofu TacosFor 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!The best-of lists continue to roll in, with three weeks left in 2025. I eagerly awaited our music critics’ best albums of the year list, and ditto best songs (you love to see Tate McRae’s “Sports Car” at the center of a Jon Caramanica and Lindsay Zoladz Venn diagram). As someone perpetually late to hot TV, I can’t wait to watch this year’s best shows … in 2028. And in our neck of the woods, these are the best dishes and best desserts that our staff and critics ate across the country — as well as at the best restaurants in New York City — this year. And speaking of best: Is this the best time to quit caffeine? Thanks for reading, 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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