Radical Cabbage: Culinary Highlights from a Madison, WI Business Trip

What I have been up to lately? A better question is what have I NOT been up to. Business trips, lawn projects, and home repair...Oh my! All this hasn't left me much time in the kitchen, but hey, I guess it goes to show that I am a normal person with a busy schedule just like most of you.

Here are some culinary highlights from my recent business trip to Madison, WI:

HuHot

Rest assured it is tastier than it looks in this photo discreetly snapped at the table with an iPhone.

If you're ever in an area with a HuHot, I highly recommend stopping in. It's a Mongolian grill style restaurant where you pick your dish and sauce then your dish is grilled by spatula flipping stir fry artists. It's definitely child and vegan friendly.

Brennan's Market

Sierra Soups Mix...I also should have snapped a photo of the fancy cheeses. You know what they say about hindsight...

Anyway, Brennan's Market is a pretty cool place for lacto-vegetarians to pick up some delicious, local, specialty cheeses. Although I don't consume vast quantities of cheese myself, I picked up quite a bit to take home to my boyfriend and his kids. Everyone has enjoyed the 5yr aged cheddar and the adults enjoyed the chipotle jack.

For the vegans, Brennan's offers Sierra Soups mixes which are also largely allergen free.

Please visit the TSA's guidelines before making your cheese selection. Soft cheeses are prohibited...I guess people could hide things in the cheese??? Not sure on that one. Also be prepared to whip out your cheese during the screening process. It will typically be run through the xray machine separately.

Wicker Park inside the Chicago Airport

It's really quite challenging to take a good picture of sushi with a phone in an airport.

I had a really REALLY long layover on the way home. (Something like 4hrs of roaming the airport). With time to burn, my business associate and I decided to have a relaxed sushi lunch at Wicker Park. "Sushi" refers to the roll rather than the raw (or cooked) fish typically incorporated into the roll. In my experience, veggie rolls are available at most sushi restaurants. I was pleasantly surprised by this vegetarian roll which offers an array of different veggies (in addition to the usual cucumber and avocado) and a tender bright green soy wrapper instead of the traditional seaweed wrapper. Surprisingly tasty find for airport fare.

Other highlights from the trip:

This giant banana, made of bottle caps, designed to be ridden.