The Veggie (NYT newsletter): It’s potato degrees outside
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By Tanya Sichynsky
There are plenty of things I’d rather not hear at the crack of dawn, and near the top of that list is the stilted voice of my smart speaker saying, “Right now in Brooklyn, it’s 17 degrees. Due to current wind conditions, it feels like 5 degrees.”
As frigid temperatures sweep much of the United States this week, the allure of creamy, carby comfort food has arguably never been stronger. Put another way: It’s potato degrees outside.
Such was my thinking, anyway, when I trudged through the falling snow and whipping winds over the weekend to Veselka, the famed Ukrainian restaurant in the East Village of New York, to satisfy a craving for potato and cheese pierogi (or varenyky, as they’re called in Ukrainian).
You needn’t leave home to do that, though. In fact, don’t. Stay inside and tuck into a potatoey project instead: Making these potato and cheese pierogi, from a recipe that Amelia Nierenberg adapted from Bar Prasowy, a restaurant in Warsaw, is the ideal winter-weather activity, and you end up with two dozen comforting dumplings.
Or pivot ever so slightly and tuck softened, seasoned potatoes into tortillas for tacos de papa. Hetty Lui McKinnon’s cheesy take on the Mexican classic includes a spicy red salsa for serving alongside, while Jocelyn Ramirez’s recipe for tacos dorados de papa keeps vegans top of mind and leans on nutritional yeast to fortify the filling. Options aplenty!
Potato weather doesn’t necessitate potato-stuffed foods, of course. Pull an Uno reverse card and stuff a potato instead. Could I interest you in a twice-baked potato (or the vegan version) à la Ali Slagle? Or Sarah Jampel’s loaded sweet potatoes with black beans and Cheddar? Requiring only six ingredients and hardly any effort, it’s a recipe that acknowledges a harsh truth: Potato weather makes you feel like, well, a potato.
And, come the fifth consecutive day of potato weather, when you need to eat something bright to remind you what a ray of sun feels like, Ali’s vegan sweet potato hash with tofu comes to the rescue, smoky and spicy and garnished with cilantro. The sound of your oven timer will be music to your ears, unlike the forecast.
One More Thing!
If you’re on TikTok, Instagram or X (the artist formerly known as Twitter), you may be wondering why it seems as if everyone is talking about oranges this week. “Orange peel theory,” a relationship litmus test that my colleague Gina Cherelus wrote about in November, is a viral meme yet again, top of mind for those eager to test the bounds of their partnerships. The thinking goes: If your special someone will do something small and mildly inconvenient for you, like peel an orange upon request (acts-of-service hive rise up), you have a winner.
I say spare yourself the orange peeling — and the potential grief — and make a whole-orange snack cake instead.
But if someone will peel an orange for you? Lucky you. Citrus marmalade with all of those peels is in order.
Thanks for reading, and see you next week!
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