Recipes for Chicago’s Most Delicious New Dishes of 2015

Chicago may be known as a steakhouse town, but to start 2015, several of its best restaurants are adding healthful new options to the menu. Here are three of our favorites!

You can’t beat the classic winter comfort combo of grilled cheese with tomato soup and the Brazilian-inspired rendition at La Sirena Clandestina, made with subtly sweet coconut milk, is the best in town. Order it with a decadent three-cheese panini at the West Loop restaurant or make it at home for yourself and take lunch to work in a thermos.

Tomato Soup
Yield: 4 qt

What you’ll need:

1 can San Marzano tomatoes, crushed by hand
8 cloves garlic, minced
2 white onions, minced
½ cup sugar
2 cups white wine
1 tablespoon fish sauce
4 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons lime juice
2 cans coconut milk

What you’ll do:

1. Sweat garlic and onions in olive oil until soft.
2. Add wine and reduce by 2/3.
3. Add tomato, coconut milk,  sugar, salt, and fish sauce and simmer on low for 45 minutes.
4. Season with lime juice and purée in blender

Quinoa solterito is a new addition to Tanta’s brunch menu, although it’s so light and flavorful that I could eat it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Solterito is a specialty of the Arequipa region in Peru, a vegetable salad normally prepared with choclo corn, lima beans, spicy rocoto peppers, tomatoes, queso fresco, and olives. Tanta’s version includes lima bean hummus and goat cheese as creamy complements to fresh beets, tomatoes, and peppery arugula. They make their own sourdough crackers instead of using standard croutons, but at home, pita chips are an easy alternative.

Quinoa Solterito
Yield: 1 serving

What you’ll need:

3 oz. Lima bean hummus
2 cups lima beans, cooked
1.5 oz. olive oil
1 tsp. lime juice
1 onion
3 cloves of garlic
2 tablespoons yellow chili paste
1.5 oz. red quinoa, cooked in boiling salt water, then chilled
1.5 oz. golden quinoa, cooked in boiling salt water, then chilled
½ teaspoon each – mint, cilantro, parsley, onions, red and green peppers, cucumbers, lima beans; all diced
1 oz. beets, cubed
4 cherry tomatoes, halved
Goat cheese, arugula, sourdough crackers to taste
Chicha morada reduction to taste (or substitute balsamic)

What you’ll do:

1. To make lima bean hummus, mix .5 oz olive oil, 1 chopped onion, 3 cloves of garlic, and 2 tablespoons yellow chili paste and cook until golden brown. Then, add lima beans, 1 oz. olive oil and 1 tsp. lime juice to blend until smooth in blender.
2. Toss chilled, cooked quinoa and remaining ingredients in a large salad bowl, adding extra salt, olive oil, and lime juice to taste. To plate, lay a bed of lima bean hummus on the plate, then add the quinoa salad on top, drizzling chicha morada reduction to finish.

If you spot some Caribbean influences on The Signature Room’s menu, that’s thanks to Jamaican-born Chef Cardel Reid, who’s bringing tropical new flavors to the classic Chicago landmark restaurant. Take his chili-rubbed shrimp, which are equal parts sweet, spicy, and smoky, a Jamaican twist on the traditional shrimp cocktail. “The dish is inspired by the flavors of my hometown, and reminds me of my childhood,” Reid says. “The spices are all similar to what we would use on the island, and the shrimp brings me back because Jamaica has access to some of the freshest seafood.”

Chili-Rubbed Shrimp
Yield: 1 Serving

What you’ll need:

Chili Rub

1 cup smoked sweet paprika
1 cup chili powder
1 cup garlic powder
1 cup onion powder
½ cup Old Bay seasoning
1 cup paprika
1/8 oz. smoked hickory powder
1 cup dry thyme
1/8 cup smoked black pepper
1/8 cup black peppercorn
6 jumbo shrimp

Barley

1 lb. barley
Vegetable stock (as needed)

Salsify

4 oz. salsify
Milk (to cover)

What you’ll do:

1. Mix all spices in bowl. Add 6 jumbo shrimp to the spice mix and coat shrimp in spices. Grill shrimp.
2. Cook barley risotto style, adding stock as needed. Cook to al dente. Cool down in liquid and let rest.
3. Peel the skin off of salsify. Place the salsify in the milk so that it doesn’t change color. Put the same milk and salsify in a pot and cook to al dente. Strain off milk and let cool. Once cooled, slice salsify on a bias.
4. To plate: 6 pieces shrimp, 2 oz. barley, 0.5 oz. salsify, 0.25 oz. micro cilantro, 1/8 oz. julienned radish. Place barley, salsify, and radish mixture in the middle of the plate. Top with the micro cilantro. Place shrimp around barley mixture.

At Korean and Puerto Rican-inspired Belly Shack, a wheat berry bowl becomes a chilled, healthier alternative to popular bibimbap. “We wanted a unique bowl that is current with today’s trends,” says Chef Bill Kim. “It also utilizes sides that are normally made with fish/shrimp and turns them vegan, but kept them delicious.” There are a lot of parts to this flavorful recipe, but it’s not too difficult to make. The vegan recipe is below, although the photo from the restaurant includes the addition of a fried egg on top for non-vegans.

Wheat Berry Bowl
Yield: 1 serving

What you’ll need:

Vegan Marinade

½ cup Mirin
1 cup soy sauce
1 cup hot water
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon chili flake

Carrot Slaw

½ cup shredded carrots
½ oz. shredded papaya
1 tablespoon minced dill
1 tablespoon Vegan Marinade

Marinated Tofu

½ cup firm tofu, diced
¼ cup Vegan Marinade

Kimchi

1 cup napa cabbage, chopped
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoon Vegan Marinade
1 tablespoon Korean-style red chili flake
Zest of ¼ of a lime

Marinated Eggplant

1 cup eggplant, diced
½ cup Vegan Marinade

What you’ll do:

1. Dissolve sugar in the hot water. Mix all ingredients for the marinade together.
2. Mix all ingredients for the carrot slaw together.
3. Mix together ingredients for tofu for at least one hour
4. For the Kimchi: Salt the cabbage and let sit for one hour. Then rinse thoroughly. Mix everything together.
5. Sauté the eggplant in oil until caramelized. Cover with marinade and let sit for one hour
6. To plate: 1 cup cooked wheat berries, ½ cup carrot slaw, ½ cup tofu, ½ cup eggplant, ½ cup kimchi, ½ avocado. Place the wheat berries in the bottom of a bowl. Put each of the salads on top of the wheat berries. Slice an avocado in half, peel and put on top of the salad. Garnish with basil or desired herbs.