Laptop Lunches #57

Confetti cabbage salad (from Best American Side Dishes, by America's Test Kitchen), homemade carrot cake (from America's Test Kitchen Cooking for Two 2010), leftover turkey breast, and some cheddar squares with butter crackers.

A few thoughts: one, America's Test Kitchen is brilliant with slaw-type things. I love their advice to sweat out the cabbage for several hours (salted, in a colander, then rinsed) before making the salad. I never was a fan of coleslaw, mostly because of the watery texture of the cabbage. But this is something else--a spicy peanut dressing coats the shredded cabbage, carrots, and scallions. Plus, cabbage, unlike other leafy greens, will stay crisp for days, even after dressed. My only beef is that one has to buy a whole head of cabbage (which will take me two or three weeks to eat!) and that this recipe made enough for me to have to eat it every day for a week, even using only 1/2 a head of cabbage. But if you have other people around helping you to eat it, go for it.

On the flip side of things, the tiny carrot cake was an inspiration. The recipe says it serves two; in reality you could get three very generous slices, or six of the size shown here, from the little pan of carrot cake. But I love carrot cake. This isn't a carrot cake adulterated with dried fruits and nuts, either. It's pure, a nice spice cake with shredded carrots and a thick coating of cream cheese frosting. So tiny carrot cake is a definite winner. (And I gave in and bought that cookbook, rather than constantly checking it out of the public library.)