Carrot and Caraway Soup

I continued my current deli-style sandwich obsession this week with roast beef and Swiss melts with horseradish mayo and caramelized onions. Although those mammoth sandwiches were nearly a meal in themselves, I still wanted a satisfying side and in this cool weather, a hearty cup of soup was just the ticket. I'm in the process of trying to use up all my carrots in preparation for my first winter CSA pickup this week, and what better way to use a large amount up than soup? This basic soup becomes the perfect accompaniment to a hearty deli sandwich with the simple addition of deeply aromatic caraway, tying the flavors of hearty rye bread with the sweet carrots. It's easy to overlook the ubiquitous carrot, but these versatile root vegetables are equally delightful uncooked in light, fresh salads and chilled soups as long-roasted and caramelized with a hearty pot roast. If you've got a few extra minutes for some chopping, peeling, and occasional stirring, try making up a pot of this soup for a warm and hearty side.

Carrot and Caraway Soup
adapted from Bon Appetit, via Epicurious
serves 2

1 tablespoon butter
1 onion, chopped
12 ounces carrots, peeled, sliced
1 teaspoon caraway seeds, crushed in mortar with pestle
1 14-ounce can (or more) low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth
Chopped fresh parsley

1. Melt butter in heavy medium saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and sauté 1 minute. Add carrots and sauté until onion is tender, about 8 minutes. Add caraway and cook 30 seconds. Add 1 can broth. Cover and simmer until carrots are tender, about 35 minutes.

2. Transfer soup to processor and puree, or remove pot from heat and puree using an immersion blender. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve hot.

Honey Caipirinha

Being the enthusiastic locavore that I am, even when it comes my booze, I knew I needed to visit Old Sugar Distillery from the first time I heard about it. It's out of the way for me, only open three days per week, and was pretty crowded when my husband and I went some months ago, but all the effort and inconvenience was worth it to discover their delicious Honey Liqueur and the delightful Honey Cap, which I immediately sought to recreate at home. Although the Honey Liqueur might lead you to think otherwise, this drink isn't overly sweet, but an easy-sipping drink that can be enjoyed with sweet and savory alike, as well as on its own. The sweet honey and tart lime juice mingle happily with the honey liqueur, all seamlessly blended by the effervescent club soda. But, as the bartenders at Old Sugar Distillery will warn you, these cocktails go down extremely easily, so sip with caution as you enjoy this exquisite cocktail.

Honey Caipirinha
serves 1

1 lime, cut in half
1 tablespoon honey
2 ounces honey liqueur (I use Old Sugar Distillery's Honey Liqueur)
Ice cubes
4 ounces club soda

1. Juice one half of the lime and combine with honey in a glass. Cut the other half of the lime into wedges, add to the glass and muddle together with the lime juice and honey mixture. Add honey liqueur, stir to mix, then add ice. Pour club soda over the top, invert into a new glass to mix ingredients together, and enjoy!

Enlightened Traditional Coleslaw

I have a tendency to get obsessed with concepts or ingredients and currently I'm in the midst of a deli-style sandwich tangent. I started by making Reubens, a classic and favorite that I've made many times before (and have also made into a pizza and dip), moving on next to pastrami, piled high on rye bread and blanketed in coleslaw. In my search for a coleslaw recipe worthy of my sandwich, I came across this fresh and tangy coleslaw recipe. While I do enjoy a creamy coleslaw, I often find restaurant coleslaws to just be sad, soggy piles of pale, mayonnaise-soaked cabbage, with perhaps a tiny bit of shredded carrot, and if you're lucky, a bit of black pepper. To balance the pastrami and Swiss cheese I sought a coleslaw that would add new dimensions of flavor and texture instead of just weighing down the sandwich. This recipe fit the bill nicely, with the crunchy vegetables and tangy yogurt-based dressing providing the perfect foil to the rich and savory pastrami and cheese. The dressing is sparing on this coleslaw compared to most, so you may want to increase the amount of dressing for a saucier, chin-dripping coleslaw. This coleslaw was also delicious enough to earn a spot alongside my monster deli sandwich, a refreshing and healthy side that I will happily revisit when next faced with a head of cabbage without a destiny, with, naturally, more experimentation with spices and other veggies.

Enlightened Traditional Coleslaw
adapted slightly from Bon Appetit, via Epicurious
makes 4 servings

1/4 cup plain nonfat yogurt
2 tablespoons light mayonnaise
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
1/2 teaspoon caraway seeds
4 cups thinly sliced green cabbage (from about 1/2 large head)
1 large carrot, peeled, coarsely grated
1/4 cup chopped red onion
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

1. Whisk yogurt, mayonnaise, lemon juice, lemon peel, and celery seeds in large bowl to blend. Add remaining ingredients; toss to coat. Season to taste with salt and pepper. (Can be made 2 hours ahead. Cover; chill. Toss before serving.)

Tofu Salad with Sweet Pickles and Spicy Mustard

I am definitely a Wisconsin girl at heart-I love cheese, beer, sausages and almost anything beer-battered and deep fried. That being said, I also eat a lot of what many people consider "hippie"  or health food-tofu, whole grains, copious amounts of fruits and vegetables, all local and organic when I can get it, and I truly love those foods too (maybe this makes me a Madison girl at heart). In my opinion, too many people automatically dismiss tofu and never give it a chance when it is an amazingly adaptable and healthy ingredient. I'm definitely not saying tofu is ever going to satisfy a craving for a brat or cheeseburger, but there is a huge host of delicious dishes with tofu that can be immensely satisfying, just in a different way.

This tofu salad is a perfect example of a dish that while based on a tried-and-true classic (tuna salad), it is not pretending to be tuna salad in any way. Melissa Clark, author of the A Good Appetite column in the New York Times and cookbook author, created this dish while pregnant when she craved tuna salad, but wanted to stay away from mercury-dense tuna. Although I regularly eat fish, including tuna, the contrasting sweet and spicy flavors and texture of the tofu in this salad are immensely satisfying, and this a recipe I anticipate regularly incorporating into my diet and, of course, adapting many times over. In my book, one of the best barometers for a good recipe is that it not only produces a fantastic dish, but inspires the cook to experiment further, and this recipe succeeds on both accounts. While hardcore carnivores may not ever entertain the thought of trying out this recipe, I encourage you to take a culinary leap if you're not a tofu fan already, and just to chow down with abandon if you already are. That being said, I'll be watching the Packer game today with some homemade pizza and a cold Wisconsin microbrew in hand, but this tofu salad may appear on my plate in next few days, balancing out the indulgences of my weekend. I definitely live by the philosophy of "Everything in moderation, including moderation."

Tofu Salad with Sweet Pickles and Spicy Mustard
from In the Kitchen with a Good Appetite by Melissa Clark
serves 2

8 ounces tofu, chopped (about 1 1/2 cups)
2 scallions, chopped
1/4 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons minced sweet pickle
4 teaspoons Dijon mustard
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
4 slices whole wheat bread, toasted
Sliced avocado, for serving
Dark leafy greens, such as arugula or spinach, for serving

1. In a medium bowl, combine the tofu, scallions, mayonnaise, pickle, mustard, and pepper. Divide the salad onto 2 slices of toast and top with the avocado and greens. Sandwich with the remaining slices of toast and serve immediately.

White Whiskey Punch

I am just as much of a locavore when it comes to my booze as my food. I am a devotee of Wisconsin craft beers, wine, and spirits and I was beyond delighted when I opened up the latest copy of Saveur and found a recipe that specifically mentioned Death's Door White Whisky, a delicious spirit I've had for months, but haven't used all that creatively. (I have also made countless gin and tonics with their exceptional gin). Admittedly, this cocktail is a bit more suited to summer, but each sunny sip is still a delight in this chilly fall weather. This unaged whiskey is perfectly suited to this cocktail, where the clean, smooth flavor of spirit blends seamlessly with the bright, acidic juices; a smoky, aged rye whiskey is better suited to classic cocktails like the Sazerac or Manhattan, or simply savored neat.

I obviously have a voracious appetite for recipes of all sorts, and I have been enjoying my recent exploration of the world of cocktails. Although I pulled this recipe from one of my favorite magazines, Saveur, the book widely-regarded as the Bible of cocktail recipes is The Craft of the Cocktail by Dale Degroff, the essential resource for cocktail novices and professionals alike. If you're enjoying the recipes I've shared during my initial foray into mixology, I highly recommend picking up a copy so you can experiment further.

White Whiskey Punch
from Saveur
makes 1 cocktail

2 oz. white whiskey, such as Death's Door
2 oz. fresh pineapple juice
1 oz. fresh lime juice
1 oz. simple syrup
Pineapple wedge, for garnish (optional)

1. Mix whiskey, juices, and syrup in a shaker with ice; shake to chill. Strain into a rocks glass with ice; garnish with pineapple.

Crispy Kale-and-Tofu Salad with Coconut

I generally have a meal plan for the week and shopping list when I hit the farmers' market, but I still always allow myself to pick up an item (or two or three) on impulse, and on a recent trip, I impulsively bought a beautiful bunch of kale with no culinary destiny. While I love kale simply roasted with olive oil, salt, and pepper until crispy or as part of a hearty soup, I wanted to try out something new. With a package of tofu that had been lingering in my fridge for a while, I put tofu and kale into the recipe search at Food and Wine, my favorite website to search for recipes, and lucked upon this incredible recipe by Heidi Swanson, the author of one of my current favorite cookbooks, Super Natural Everyday.

Cripsy kale is a perfect textural contrast to the slighty chewy rice and tender tofu with the nutty brown rice perfectly complementing the beautiful toasted flavors of the sesame oil and coconut; the whole dish is made just fortifying enough by the perfectly browned tofu. I know many people think of tofu as merely something to carry flavor (which it does exceptionally well), but I have come to enjoy the inherent taste of tofu, which is a nice subtle complement to the rest of the flavors in this recipe. If you'd like to serve this to people who aren't crazy about tofu, I recommend eliminating the tofu and serving this as a side, cooking up the tofu (and another protein, like chicken, for the carnivores), separately. This dinner is surprisingly filling, and although the kale isn't quite as crispy, any leftovers will delight for lunch the following day.

Crispy Kale-and-Tofu Salad with Coconut
from Food and Wine
serves 4

1 cup short-grain brown rice 
Salt 
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil 
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil 
2 tablespoons soy sauce 
1 1/2 pounds kale—stems and ribs removed, leaves chopped 
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut flakes 
1/2 pound extra-firm tofu, cut into 1/4-inch cubes (about 2 cups) 

1. Preheat the oven to 350° and position racks in the lower and upper thirds of the oven. In a saucepan, combine the rice with 2 cups of water and a pinch of salt; bring to a boil. Cover and simmer over low heat for 35 minutes, until the rice is tender.


2. In a small bowl, whisk the olive oil with the sesame oil and soy sauce. Transfer two-thirds of the dressing to a large bowl. Add the kale, coconut and tofu; toss to coat, then spread on 2 rimmed baking sheets. Bake for 25 minutes, until crispy. Stir once or twice and shift the pans halfway through baking. Return the mixture to the large bowl and toss with the remaining dressing and rice. Season with salt and serve right away.

Creamy Cauliflower Leek Soup

While many people are bemoaning the return of fall weather, I am relishing in the season, welcoming cozy sweaters, thick blankets, and hearty meals with open arms. Now that the appropriate weather has arrived, I have dived into my annual obsession with soups. I started with the savory and satisfying Cream of Broccoli Soup, moving on next to this rich and creamy cauliflower soup, which I served with a stick-to-your-ribs reuben, piled high with delicious corned beef. Potato and leek soup, has a strikingly complex flavor profile for such a simple recipe, so when I found a cauliflower soup that also used leeks, I knew that would be an excellent partner to my massive Reuben melts. This cauliflower soup is an excellent substitute for the typical sides served with Reubens like potato salad or fries, providing the satisfaction of those starchy sides while sneaking some vegetables into the meal. Even lightened up a bit, this still is undoubtedly a meal for those with a hearty appetite, like myself. The piquant corned beef is a pleasing contrast to the thick, silky soup, but the leftover soup became an especially delicious lunch the next day after the flavor profile had a chance to develop overnight. This simple soup provides an immense return for the little effort it requires to prepare, so treat yourself right and cook up a big pot of soup instead of just opening a can.


Creamy Cauliflower Leek Soup
adapted from Gourmet (via Epicurious)
serves 4 as a first course, 2 as a main course

1 medium leek (white and pale green parts only), halved lengthwise, then cut crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick slices (3/4 cup)
1 teaspoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon water
1 (2-lb) head cauliflower, cored and cut into 1-inch pieces (6 cups)
3/4 teaspoon ground coriander
2 cups reduced-sodium chicken or vegetable broth
1 cup 2% milk
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1. Wash leek slices in a bowl of cold water, agitating, then lift out and pat dry.

2. Melt butter with water in a 4- to 5-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat. Add cauliflower and leek and cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until cauliflower begins to soften (do not let brown), about 5 minutes. Add coriander and cook, stirring, 1 minute, then add broth, milk, salt, and pepper and bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat and gently simmer, covered, stirring occasionally, until cauliflower is very tender, 15 to 20 minutes.

3. Purée soup in 2 batches in a blender (use caution when blending hot liquids) until very smooth, or puree in the pot (off the heat) with an immersion blender, thinning with additional stock or water, if desired. Serve hot.