A few years ago, Jack and I visited Copenhagen, where we ate lots and lots (and lots) of Smørrebrød. If you aren’t familiar with smørrebrød, they are open faced sandwiches with artfully-piled toppings on dense, rectangle-shaped rye bread. It’s the national dish of Denmark… that I’m about to make a completely non-traditional version of – but this is super yummy, so let’s just have fun and go with it! 🙂 Smørrebrød toppings vary widely, but many common combinations include smoked salmon and dill. I’ve been wanting to create a fun veggie variation for a while now, so when Wasa, my favorite crispbread brand, asked me to make a recipe on their flat perfectly-portioned Euro-style crispbreads, I immediately thought – it’s smørrebrød time! My creation today is part of their #CrispbreadChallenge, which is all about making an open-faced sandwich on a crispbread instead of a slice of bread. And the fun doesn’t stop there…Wasa is giving away a $500 grocery store gift card to a lucky challenge participant, all you need to do to enter is make your own open-faced sandwich (anything you want), put it on a Wasa crispbread instead of bread, and post your creation on Instagram for a chance to win! Just make sure you’re following me + @wasausa and use the hashtag #CrispbreadChallenge. You guys have to join in on this challenge if you haven’t already – swapping bread for crispbreads has made for such a fun twist on my usual breakfast and lunches. I even have a coupon for you all to purchase your own Wasa crispbreads, linked here. Today – inspired by those open-faced Danish smoked salmon sandwiches, I made a veggie version of smoked “salmon”… with carrots! How do carrots taste like smoked salmon, you might ask? You have to just try it to believe it. Trust me on this one, it’s crazy delicious.
This recipe starts by making salt-crusted roasted carrots. Don’t worry – you will not be consuming this crazy amount of salt in the end, because the skins get peeled for the most part. This technique ends up giving the carrots an amazing smoky flavor.
Once the carrots are roasted, the soft carrots get peeled into ribbons and put into a marinade made with olive oil, rice vinegar, smoked paprika, lemon, and pepper. This gives the carrots a tangy, smoky flavor and a bit of an oily texture that resembles the texture of smoked salmon. Let the carrot pieces sit in the marinade for a few minutes as you get your other toppings ready. The marinated carrots can also be stored in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Instead of bread, I assembled my “sandwiches” with Wasa’s Light Rye Crispbreads which are so delicious with these toppings! They’re light – perfect for a healthy, satisfying lunch. They’re made with wholesome, simple ingredients and have a delicious crunch that goes nicely with my toppings here. I start with a layer of vegan cream cheese, followed by cucumber slices, radish slices, the smoked carrot pieces, capers, dill, and chives.
For everyone joining me in the #CrispbreadChallenge, I’d love to see what some of your favorite open-faced crispbread combinations have been! Make sure you take this super quick survey, linked here, and let me know what you think of the challenge!
This post is in partnership with Wasa.
