With January’s resolutions still safely in the distance, I’m spending these last festive weeks of December cocooned in a buttery, sugary haze. Obviously I’m leaning hard into cookies (so many cookies), but I’m also making sure there’s cake around, just to maintain a balanced diet.
Yossy Arefi’s lemon yogurt cheesecake is perfect for a sugar-enhanced December because while it’s plush and rich from the requisite cream cheese, it’s also bright and tangy from Greek yogurt and plenty of lemon juice and zest. And the cake will keep for days in the fridge, meaning not only can you make it ahead for a holiday gathering, but you can also then nibble mouse-like at the leftovers, one tiny, blissful bite at a time.
Featured Recipe
Lemon Yogurt Cheesecake
For the meals that come between cookie and cake time, Colu Henry’s brilliant sheet-pan chicken with apple, fennel and onion is filled with fruit and vegetables, which absorb all the meaty chicken juices as everything roasts. Since the oven’s already on, you can easily bring that virtuous vegetable quotient even higher by slipping in a pan of Yasmin Fahr’s miso-butter roasted broccoli to serve alongside.
Andrea Nguyen’s mapo tofu is another excellent dish to serve before the cavalcade of holiday desserts marches out. Be warned, though: This savory, saucy tofu marvel is spiced so complexly with layers of Sichuan peppercorns and chiles that it could make you forget about your sweet tooth entirely. I mean, it’s possible anyway.
On the mellower and meatless side, there’s Ali Slagle’s lovely pasta with creamy herb sauce. To make the sauce, infuse heavy cream with whatever branchy herbs you’ve got in your fridge — rosemary, thyme or oregano — along with a cinnamon stick to add its warm perfume. That infused cream is then added to the pasta along with some dark leafy greens that wilt into verdant ribbons, adding color and vegetable goodness to the silky mix.
And finally, let’s take a moment to acknowledge the people who prefer salty bites over sweet ones. For you, Sue Li’s crunchy furikake snack mix is a vivacious combination of cereal, shrimp crackers, pretzels and wasabi peas coated with soy sauce butter spiked with nori and the seasoning from a packet of instant ramen (while the noodles themselves give this mix even more texture). Make it by the vatful and watch it disappear at your next holiday shindig. Or scoop it into jars or tins to give to friends who may prefer it to the ubiquitous gingerbread.
To get these and all the other sweet, salty, creamy, spicy recipes at New York Times Cooking, you’ll want to subscribe. Right now, you can save 50 percent on your first year of Cooking during the holiday sale. If you’re met with some kind of a technical pitfall, email the smart people at cookingcare@nytimes.com for help. And I’m at hellomelissa@nytimes.com if you want to say hi.
Yours in sweetness, I’ll see you on Monday.