Copper Pennies: or, Cool off with carrots!

Who would guess carrots could be so good on a hot day?

Copper Pennies 8 ounces of carrots (4 or 5 medium-sized), thinly sliced crosswise ¼ cup canned tomato soup, undiluted ¼ cup sugar 1 tbsp cooking oil 3 tbsp cider vinegar ¾ tsp dry mustard ¾ tsp Worcestershire sauce One-quarter onion (white or yellow), finely chopped One-quarter bell pepper, finely chopped 1 stick celery, finely chopped Lettuce leaves for serving Place carrots in a small microwave-safe bowl. Add a little salt and a spoonful of water. Cover with a dinner plate (or anything that will keep in the steam without forming an airtight seal) and microwave until fork-tender, about 4 minutes. In a medium or large microwave-safe bowl, whisk together all remaining ingredients except the onion, bell pepper, celery, and lettuce. Microwave until it comes to a rolling boil, about 1 or 2 minutes. Remove, and stir to mix. Then add the carrots, onion, and celery. Transfer to a container with a well-sealed lid. Refrigerate overnight. Serve cold. You can serve it on lettuce leaves if desired. Miss Lennee Lacey; The Cotton Country Collection; Junior League of Monroe, Louisiana; 1972

 I saw this one in The Cotton Country Collection a long time ago, and always was a bit skeptical. It looked like nothing but sliced carrots with some inadequate attempts to improve them. The recipe may look underwhelming, but it periodically pops into my head when I'm trying to use up the last of a bag of carrots. 

The Cotton Country Collection; Junior League of Monroe, Louisiana; 1972

Unfortunately, I could not get the recipe simply by opening the book I first saw it in. As mentioned in earlier posts, my copy of The Cotton Country Collection fell apart and therefore went to the municipal hereafter, taking the copper pennies with it. However, when I was windowshopping at an antique store with friends, I found a copy for sale. 

You may think I promptly bought it, but you would be wrong. I took it off the shelf, "casually" sauntered to another part of the store where the clerk couldn't see me, and whipped out my phone. The hardest part was discreetly reshelving the book right in front of the clerk and pretending I happened to change my mind.

As I was reading the directions, I realized that we can modernize the recipe with the microwave. Cooking this on the stove is as outdated as the recipe name. (These days, it should be called "copper-plated zinc pennies.") There's no reason to boil the carrots when the microwave will do the job faster.

If you're quartering the recipe like I did, you finish cutting everything pretty quick. After slicing the carrots, we only had to chop these.

Having finished everything that involves a cutting board, we could get to the dressing. The instructions tell us to simply put everything in a pot and boil it. Like the carrots themselves, this seemed easier in the microwave than on a stove. As we got everything into the bowl, I realized I had underestimated how much sugar this recipe uses.

Things looked more normal after getting all the spices in there.

As I removed the steaming-hot tomato dressing from the microwave, it smelled sharply and pungently of the 1970s in a way I didn't expect and can't explain.

And so, after a bit of microwaving and a smaller-than-expected amount of chopping, our copper pennies were ready to stir together and put away. I liked the pretty and bright colors. Also, the vinegary tomato sauce tasted better than I thought it would.

The next day, the colors on the fresh produce had dulled a bit. But the bell peppers and onions were just as crunchy as the day before. (I didn't bother serving this on lettuce because I didn't want to purchase a head of it and let the rest rot in the fridge.)

The copper pennies are downright refreshing after being outside in this heat- like the vegetable equivalent of an iced tea. I expected to say that this recipe is better if you reheat it the next day, but it's surprisingly good served cold. I didn't think I would like it cold, but somehow it works.

Of course, the cooked carrots don't really taste like much of anything, though marinating them overnight in a tomato-vinegar sauce definitely helped. The onions and the bell peppers added all the flavor that the carrots lacked. I think copper pennies would be a really good choice any time people get together in hot weather. Heavy rich foods just aren't as appealing when it's hot outside. (At many summer picnics, the fruit tray gets completely demolished while the decadent cakes sit nearly-untouched all day.)

Picnics and other encounters with people aside, I think this recipe makes a great side dish while it's so hot outside. As a bonus, very little effort goes into actually making this. And if you use the microwave instead of the stove, you won't even heat up the kitchen.

In conclusion, this recipe is a lot better than I expected, and worth making again.