I’ll do anything for vegetables, but I won’t do that.

That’s how I feel when I see veggies that have been completely drowned in cream or béchamel. I like cream and béchamel, but I don’t like drowning. So though gratins and casseroles always sound good in theory, when I go to make them, I never fail to change my mind. I’ll save my half and half for the morning’s coffee, thanks.

Here is the main argument for why I am probably wrong.

Melting a little bit of cheese on top of a veggie meal feels quite restrained, by contrast.

In this dish, which plays off my love for crunchy bread accoutrements and reusing stale slices, you roast broccoli florets until they are delicious, then make them more delicious still by sprinkling nutty, aged Roth Grand Cru on top. As the cheese (which comes from Wisconsin and tastes like it’s imported from the Alps) oozes into the florets, it simultaneously fastens butter-crisped bread crumbs to the vegetables, in another gratin-like move.

Natalie of Good Girl Style joins us each month to share incredible desserts with Big Girls, Small Kitchen readers–desserts that are entirely gluten-free, but not like obviously gluten-free. That means no specialty flours or hard-to-find ingredients, just fruit, yogurt, and honey. Want even more low-impact desserts? Check out Natalie’s Baked Apples.

It’s time for some sunshine. This citrus and honey-infused recipe is a light and bright mix of flavors, like sunshine on a platter.

The pomegranates give a nice pop of crunch and bright red color. (Don’t be intimidated by a pomegranate, just score around the middle, pop it open, and break the sections apart a little. Then turn each half over into the palm of your hand and hit the back of the fruit with a wooden spoon over a bowl. The seeds will fall into your hand and into the bowl. That’s all there is to it!) Citrus, pomegranates, and honey have so many delicious vitamins and healing properties to help you fight off cold season and keep your healthy New Year’s resolutions. Plus, this is delicious with crispy bits of caramelized sugar right on top.

This dish, while sweet enough to be dessert (obviously!), is also a worth addition to any brunch table. You might then use up extra citrus rind in candied grapefruit, and the extra juice for cocktails. The French technique of “supremeing” the fruit makes beautiful slices without the pesky membrane. Once you get the hang of the technique, you might find yourself making these fancy citrus slices for everyday eating, too. Finally, the sauce is a perfectly creamy balance to the citrus, while the honey flavor adds sweetness.

Some office lunch staples just aren’t so good. But some are. Pretty much whenever I don’t pack a lunch, I seek out my day’s servings of vegetables at one of the chopped salad joints that have colonized NYC. Not even the lines can put me off. When you discover a way to make vegetables truly palatable, people line up, especially in January.

In my tastings, I’ve gotten to be pretty good at choosing the right mix of salad ingredients. But I wanted to know more about prep, assembly, and chopping, and so I turned to Nick Kenner, founder and managing partner of Just Salad, which has more than 20 international locations.

From Nick, I learned enough about salad to whip up this Mexican Chicken Chopped Salad (with manchego, red kuri squash, and creamy chipotle dressing) easily and well. Want to get chopping too? You should read all about salad over at First We Feast.

Before I cool my jets about homemade chicken stock and how it can easily turn into soup for dinner, lunch, snacks, and breakfast, this quick thing: an island of poached egg, set on toast, surrounded by a sea of broth.

This is the kind of very, very simple meal you can feed yourself when there appears to be nothing around to eat. All that’s asked is that you had some small wave of productivity in the past week or two, a wave that led you to make a pot of stock, buy a loaf of bread, come by an egg, and score some Parm. That leads to a humble and truly delicious meal. It’s hearty, warming, and always makes you feel better.

In the soup-which, naturally, doesn’t have to be served for breakfast-you give the stock flavor by turning it into broth with the addition of salt, lemon, and pepper. Then you mount a little campaign for body, thickness, and depth. That’s from the toasted bread, whose starch thickens, from the yolk which seeps out, from the Parm, which melts, and from the olive oil, which adds richness and fat. That’s it. I hope you make this soon.

Whisper the word “detox” to me and watch as an immense, unexpected desire for French fries gathers steam. This reaction happens at all times of year, but I mention it now, in January, because you’re probably hearing a lot of mutters about “healthy” and “detox” and “cleanse” and then, like me, running in just the opposite direction.

Still, there are eras of overindulgence, and, after those months, I want food that’s simple and light. This appetite shift is natural, obvious, and far less intense than the contrarian fry craving. (To note: I have no problem with French fry cravings when they’re genuine, I just dislike the rebellious ones.)

But since I last about one day on substances like salads with lite dressing, overpriced juices, and low-carb anything without getting mad and contrarian, light food now means this nourishing and comforting soup. I’m not the first to rely on this slow-cooked rice, or its starchy brethren, for comfort and health. Whether you call it congee (China) or risotto (Italy), the stuff is delicious and life-affirming: my kind of detox.

In Thailand, kao tom appears at breakfast-that’s where Alex and I first tasted, and adored, bowls of the gruel. Now, I make rice soup for any of the three meals. Since we returned from the trip two years ago, I’ve experimented with recipes, and recently, I hit on a flexible version that tastes right and isn’t too complicated or ingredient-rich to make on the regular. (I owe a lot to this recipe.)

To make rice soup, you need to make two elements: cooked rice and homemade stock. I try to have both ready ahead of time so that rice soup itself takes about 15 minutes start to finish.

Instead of fluffy rice with sought-after separated grains, you want the rice for rice soup to be soggy and clumped together from being cooked in three times as much water as usual. The water-logged grains are both starchier and thirstier, and they combine with the broth to make a thick, unified soup. I make a cup or two of rice around the same time I brew the stock. Then, I cook the soup itself fresh when I want it, in portions for one or two. At first, I used only white rice, but recently, I switched to brown.

I know that cooks pressed for time and space don’t want to hear about homemade stock, but this soup is not the same without it. In fact, these days, I make stock almost every week, and as soon as I made simmering a practice instead of a chore, I began to cherish the process. For this soup, you don’t need the pot going all day: I make a light broth quickly, so the chicken meat doesn’t dry out too much, and I keep the vegetables to a minimum, so there’s barely anything to buy, wash, or chop. Store the soup in quart jars and you can eyeball the pour when you make kao tom.

As for the soup, now’s why I tell you how good it is. Grated ginger, garlic, and soy sauce turn neutral rice and stock into a punchy base for a poached egg whose yolk will thicken the broth when you crack it and eat, making the mixture truly filling. Chicken, salvaged from stock-making, helps with that too. Then, it’s all about the toppings: sesame oil enriches, kimchi brightens, peanuts lend texture, and Sriracha warms. One bite, and you’ll feel better. One bowl, and you’ll be pretty sure you can conquer the world. And how healthy is that?

New Year’s Eve approaches! Depending on your satisfaction with prix fixes and paid bar events, the last evening of the year can represent the most fun party ever or a crowded and frustrating journey to tomorrow’s hangover. However you prefer to celebrate, an easy way to improve on any festivities is to add home cooking into the mix.

So, I wanted to make some menus to suit your party, whether the vibe lands on casual, hearty feast, candlelit date, or champagne-powered cocktail party.

Natalie of Good Girl Style joins us each month to share incredible desserts with Big Girls, Small Kitchen readers–desserts that are entirely gluten-free, but not like obviously gluten-free. That means no specialty flours or hard-to-find ingredients, just egg whites, peppermint extract, and chocolate. Want even more peppermint? Don’t miss Natalie’s recent recipe for Peppermint Snowballs!

These cookies use four ingredients and, with just those four, magically transform into Christmas-cookie-ified. Aside from being a festive addition to any holiday cookie exchange or dessert table, these are light as air and a welcome breathe of fresh air this time of year. Package them up in clear cellophane and they are a delightful gift. Since they’re light as air, though, the cookies are fragile and the tips are prone to breaking off or being crushed. Keep them well-protected in a single layer in an air-tight container for storage, so moisture doesn’t make them sticky.

Fair warning that this mixture is very sticky, so get everything prepared ahead of time. The circles on parchment paper are optional, but will help the cookies turn out a uniform size-and get you your full 30-cookie yield. A spice jar lid or even a roll of washi tape will make the right size circle stencil. A piping bag and tip are optional; a corner cut off a Ziploc bag will work well, too, and you can either swirl the mixture to create the shape or press down for one big “kiss.” The gel food coloring is also optional, so feel free to make the kisses snowy white or green-striped if you prefer.