Copper is not a new establishment. I ate there for New Year’s Eve a few years ago. The potatoes were some of the best I ever had in Charlotte – tiny, crisp new potatoes cooked until crisp on a light bed of some sort of fragrant sauce. Recently a friend and I decided to head back there for a cocktail and appetizer, and found it to be just as good for a weeknight treat as it is for a special occasion.
Chef Naveen Sadana and restaurateur Pannu Singh have assembled a menu that caters to a flavor-loving palette. The tandoor oven churns out popular dishes like tandoori chicken, and creamed spinach with house made cheese – both are prepared exceptionally here. Any of the seafood dishes are a must for protein junkies and the homemade cheese and green peas are perfect for your cheat day. Vegetarian? Try the potli samosa – “savory vegetable parcels with crunchy beets and beans with hot sweet sour chutney”. The flavors simply explode on the tongue and pair perfectly with a creative wine list.
Jumbo scallops are done here in two ways: scallops in a goan curry sauce on the traditional entrée menu, and our favorite, the tava scallops as an appetizer. The tava scallops are served with onions, asparagus, lychea, khada masala, and avocado emulsion. A treat not to be missed at Copper is the traditional naan bread. Order a side of the raita sauce (made with cucumber and yogurt) for dipping, and don’t forget an order of the chana masala, also known as garbanzo beans with curry.
Healthy meals are easy to find at Copper. Aside from numerous healthful vegetarian and seafood dishes, the use of peppers and traditional spices in Indian foods have long been known to have healthful and according to some, even medicinal properties. Both hot and sweet peppers are full of vitamins and carotenoids. Dr. Nicholas Perricone among other notable physicians heralded the benefits of capsaicin in hot peppers and named them one of his 10 superfoods.
Copper is open for lunch Monday-Friday from 11:30am until 2:30pm, and dinner is served Monday through Thursday from 5 to 10pm and Friday and Saturday from 5 to 10:30pm. Sunday Copper is open in the evenings only from 5 to 9:30pm. Reservations are recommended.
Copper
311 East Blvd., Dilworth
704-333-0063
CopperRestaurant.com
Make it at Home Healthy Indian Wraps
Ingredients
1 lb leanest organic chicken or ground beef
1 onion, chopped
1 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 dash of hot sauce, such as Tabasco
1 (16 ounce) can of low fat
A Handful of low fat cheese
1 teaspoon of curry powder
A handful of shredded organic lettuce
1 chopped tomato
1 package of healthful wraps (spinach or other)
Directions
Combine meat, onion, salt, pepper, curry and Tabasco in a skillet; brown.
Cover and let simmer while making wraps.
Slick one baking sheet with extra virgin olive oil.
Swirl wraps on cookie sheet, and bend slightly to make a curve in the wrap (like a taco)
When bread is done, layer with all ingredients and enjoy!
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