September 10, 2013 by Lindsey | Dolly and Oatmeal

the weather here has been so insanely gorgeous, temperatures in the low 70s, cool breezes, blue skies, and plentiful sunshine. it's been perfect weather for shorts and a sweater, or your favorite denims with a T. i am seriously looking forward to breaking out a scarf or two, and perhaps my new wool panama hat...just saying. anywho, this salad was the perfect picnic salad, so we did just that...on our fire escape of course. we used our rad picnic blanket (ahem, i mean tea towels), laid them out to cover the beautiful black metal beneath, served our salad, and dug in.

this chopped salad was inspired by a fresh vegetable salad in Jerusalem, and also inspired by the massive amounts of beautiful tomatoes and peppers out there this time of year. you may notice that i include sweet peppers in the ingredient list. mine somehow never made their way into my bag at the farmer's market, but i left them on the list because they i know they will surely be a lovely addition here. the tahini sauce is super dreamy and creamy, there's nothing better than when the tomato juices mix with the tahini sauce and you're left with a slightly tomato-spiked sauce! the crushed pine nuts and mint was kind of an afterthought, but i had the mint on hand and i love the flavor of toasted pine nuts, and thought it would be a great addition. turns out it was, but next time i will add more (i increased the amounts in the recipe below).

the next couple of weeks are fun ones for me and my husband. he will be turning the big 3-0, and i will be celebrating my birthday a few days later. lots of celebration and good times around here. stay tuned for celebration goodies, swiftly followed by detox!

chopped tahini salad w/ crushed pine nuts + mint

salad inspired by, and tahini sauce from: Yotam Ottolenghi & Sami Tamimi's Jerusalem

| serves 4 as a side salad |

ingredients »

2 cups chopped greens
1 cup chopped heirloom tomatoes
1 cup chopped cucumbers
1/2 cup chopped sweet peppers
1 tablespoon fresh chives (i used garlic chives)
2-3 tablespoons toasted pine nuts
2 teaspoons fresh mint leaves
a pinch of salt
smoked paprika to taste

tahini sauce (i halved the original recipe) »

1/3 cup tahini paste
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 small garlic clove, crushed
1/8 teaspoon fine grain sea salt

instructions

for the tahini sauce »

in a medium sized bowl, whisk the tahini, water, lemon juice, crushed garlic and salt until combined
cover, and let the mixture sit in the fridge until ready to use

for the salad »

with a mortar and pestle, crush the toasted pine nuts with a pinch of salt, add the mint and grind until the mint and nuts are small pieces. set aside
in a large bowl, combine the greens, tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers. drizzle the tahini sauce, and garnish with crushed pine nut/mint mixture, chives and paprika

serve with additional tahini sauce and enjoy!

spelt scones with baked stone fruit / September 3, 2013 by Lindsey | Dolly and Oatmeal

these stone fruits were some of the last i had in my kitchen. and while i could have easily eaten them as is, i decided to bake them up, and toss them into some simple scones. stone fruits this summer, especially peaches, did not disappoint. while i was out east on long island for our wedding, my family and i were fortunate enough to stay in a rental house that sat between a beautiful creek and a peach orchard (!) for the entire week my mom and i would jog through the path that lead through the peach orchard, past a growing corn field, up to what was called a "button tree", down a path lined with plum trees, nectarine trees and wildflowers. on our way back we would point out the beautiful peaches, and help each other from not picking the superb fruit before us. every other day or so, we would drive down the street to the farm stand, and buy our peaches that we had longed for that morning. i'm never ready to say "see you next year" to such delicious fruit, but i've been lucky enough to have had so much this summer.

i really wanted the fruit to be super present in these scones so i cut them in rather large chunks, and paired them with a scone recipe that lets them shine. i've had my fair share of baking-with-fruit experiences where the batter surrounding the fruit never cooks, and i was left with gooey, uncooked sections, so i pre-baked the fruit to let some of their juices out.. although this recipe is vegan, it is not gluten free. i have been experimenting with spelt flour, as i know it's more nutritious than many other grain flours. flours with gluten have a very limited presence in my diet, as their glycemic index is can be high. therefore, i frequently bake with grain flours/meals such as almond flour, buckwheat, and oat flour as their glycemic index is way lower than that of grain flours. however, i look forward to mixing in spelt whenever i can with my grain free flours.

the original scone recipe called for a mix of unbleached flour and spelt; i used 100% whole grain spelt flour here. feel free to substitute any grain flours, i would think substituting half the spelt with rye flour would taste pretty rad here. (i'm not sure how grain free flours and meals would work. i'm still working on the perfect grain free scone, definitely haven't found it yet!) i also substituted butter and heavy cream, with coconut oil and coconut cream, and both lent a sweet subtle scent. these scones are delicious in their right; hearty but light, nutty but also slightly sweet, all with a delightful crumb.

spelt scones with baked stone

| makes 8 large or 16 small scones |

| vegan |

adapted from Kim Boyce's Good to the Grain and also inspired from here and here

ingredients

for the scones

2 1/4 cups whole spelt flour
2 tablespoons raw turbinado sugar or coconut palm sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup coconut oil, solid
1 cup chilled, unsweetened coconut cream (i like Native Forest Organic)

for the fruit

1 cup mixed stone fruits (roughly 1/2 pound)
1 teaspoon coconut oil, melted
2 teaspoons raw turbinado sugar (alternatively, you can use any sugar, agave nectar, maple syrup, or honey)

instructions

preheat oven to 350°. line a small rimmed baking sheet with parchment

make the baked fruit

slice and remove the stones from your fruit. cut all fruit the same size and place in a medium sized bowl (i cut mine into about 1 inch cubes). pour melted oil over fruit, and toss in the sugar. gently, toss the fruit so that each piece is coated with oil and sugar
place in the middle of your oven and bake for 15 minutes - you want your fruit tender, but not mushy. (this also depends on the ripeness of your fruit pre-bake. if they are very ripe check after 10 minutes, if less ripe you may need to bake longer than 15 minutes. you know they're finished when a sharp knife is inserted easily to the fruit.)
remove from the oven and let cool completely

make the scones

turn the oven temperature up to 400° and line a baking sheet with parchment paper

place flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of a food processor and pulse a few times to mix. (if using a liquid sweetener do not add yet.) next, add the hardened coconut oil and pulse until the mixture resembles fine cornmeal
turn out scone mixture into a large bowl and add the cooled fruit. use a spatula to gently mix. add the coconut cream a half cup at a time until the dough comes together
place your parchment lined baking sheet on a work surface. dust the parchment with some flour, and turn dough out onto the sheet. using your hands, shape the the dough into a 1" inch thick, 9" circular disk. using a sharp knife, cut in quarters and then in quarters again until you have 8 pieces
sprinkle tops of scones with a hint of sugar (optional)
bake in the middle of your oven for 17-20 minutes, rotating halfway through. you know they are finished baking when the tops and bottoms are golden brown

enjoy!

hummus + pesto veggie wraps, + parting with summer / August 28, 2013 by Lindsey | Dolly and Oatmeal

the last few weeks of summer seem to be slowing encroaching in. and while it's not over yet, i am already missing summer's colorful produce and its sweet smelling berries at the farmers' market. i know i'm totally jumping the gun, and that we have many more days of vibrant fresh greens, and bounties of plums and apples, but to think that these beautiful summer days and beach weekends are numbered makes me a little sad. on the other hand, i'm super excited at the thought of cool fall days, my mind perks up about apple picking, the start of a looong squash season (!), scarves, and snuggling up to my mister on the couch. nature is full of many beauties, and some exciting surprises in the fall season. it's just letting go of summer is what's difficult; of its warmth, sunshine, its edible gifts, and the way that it never lets you down.

most summer weekends are reserved for at least one day at the beach. me and the husband have our little routine of making our lunch, packing our beach bag with the paper or a book, and a big towel to share. we usually head out first thing in the morning after grabbing iced coffee to go, and then we're on our way. our usual spot at the end of the beach will be all ready for us, and sometimes, if we're lucky, it's low-tide and we get to walk out onto the sand-bar. it's usually a perfectly simple day, just me and my love, with sunshine on our faces, wind blowing, and the sound of the tides coming in and out. these are the days i live for.

i made the wraps here with these last few beach weekends in mind. they're simple to make ahead, wrap up, and throw in a container. they're vegan/dairy free, so even if you don't have a cooler they will stay nice and fresh. if you want, cut the time in half and buy your favorite hummus and pesto. if not, i provide a recipe for both below. the pesto recipe was inspired by this beautiful blog post, and my new affinity for cilantro since returning from Costa RIca. i hope you all are enjoying these last few weeks of the summer season!

hummus + pesto veggie wraps

| gluten free + vegan |

| makes 6 wraps |

ingredients

6 large brown rice tortillas (or tortillas of your choice)
1 bunch swiss chard, de-stemmed and chopped (about 4-5 leaves)
1 large cucumber, julienned
1 small red onion, sliced
1 ripe mango, thinly sliced
8 ounces roasted garlic hummus
1/4 cup sunflower cilantro pesto (recipe below)

| sunflower cilantro pesto |

1/2 cup cilantro, packed (1 bunch)
1 garlic clove, chopped
1/4 olive oil
2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon toasted sunflower seeds
salt to taste ~1/8 teaspoon
cayenne pepper to taste (optional)

instructions

make the pesto

in a small food processor, combine cilantro, chopped garlic, olive oil, lime juice, toasted sunflower seeds, salt, and cayenne. blend, scraping down the sides. transfer to an airtight container and place in the refrigerator until ready to use (i like making my pesto the day before, or early in the day to let the flavors really come together.)

assemble the wraps

one at a time, warm the tortillas between a damp cloth, or 2 damp paper towels, in the microwave for a few seconds (this helps the tortillas not break when rolling them.)
place the tortilla on a clean work surface. using a spoon or small spatula, add the hummus - i used about 2 tablespoons worth. then, add about 2 teaspoons of pesto - use more or less depending on your preference
next, add the mango strips and chopped chard. top with cucumber and red onion
fold the bottom and top of the tortilla in towards the filling, then fold the sides in. tightly roll one side to the other. with the folded side down, use a sharp knife to cut in half. repeat with remaining tortillas

grab a napkin, chow down, and enjoy!