Grazing in Wisconsin

Just home from another work trip to Wisconsin. Post the Engine 2 Challenge, I decided to forego lugging a cooler of food with me. Opting to just choose healthier dishes while dining out. For lunches, I had the vegetarian soup at the local coffee shop (minestrone one day, curried lentils and rice the next). I also tried out Barrique's Biker's Dream, a whole wheat tortilla filled with peanut butter, banana, granola, peaches and strawberry jam. The real treat, though, was dinner out with my colleagues.

We went to Graze  which features locally grown, organic comfort foods. I arrived early with a colleague to put in our request for 8 for dinner. While we waited for others to arrive, we ordered the house pickle plate which featured daikon, kimchee, butternut squash, escabeche, beets, cucumbers. My favorites were the sweet cucumber pickles and the light butternut squash. Who am I kidding? They were all tasty!

For the main entree, the crispy smoky tofu sounded intriguing featuring carmelized cauliflower and sweet potato, roasted red pepper, shitake mushrooms, leeks and wild rice with a light curry shitake sauce, peanuts and cilantro. When I asked the waiter what made the tofu crispy, he explained that it was marinated in brown sugar and salt dredged in cornstarch and fried. I decided to get the dish, but skip the tofu. It was really, really, ridiculously good. I even asked the waiter to give my compliments to the kitchen!

I didn't have as much control with the oil, whole grains and salt that I ate by dining out, but I did get to enjoy trying new dishes. It's about moderation and making the best choices without depriving yourself.