raw veggie + ginger rice bowl w/ sriracha tahini /  by Lindsey | Dolly and Oatmeal

last week frank and i did a lot of birthday celebrating (as our birthdays are 3 days apart), so like any good pair we celebrated with dinners out and a good amount of birthday sweets.  needless to say, my body was completely whacked out in reaction to my consumption of bits of gluten here and there, and sugary treats.  frank and i both came to a quick conclusion that we needed to get back to our old routine of cooking at home, and not eating desserts almost every night.  since the celebrations have ceased i have been consuming a fair amount of ginger to help calm and balance this body of mine.  

with that in mind, i wanted to make a healthful and soothing dinner, and this rice bowl was just the thing to help do that.  the rice was cooked with ginger to infuse some of that anti-inflammatory goodness, and loaded with raw veggies as to not let any of those good nutrients escape. the tahini sriracha was inspired by the flavors in this blog post, and by my friend who had us over the night and made a delicious and simple bok choy salad with toasted almonds and sesame oil dressing - yummo!  i'm a big fan of veggie rice bowls, and this is similar to one i made awhile back, but here i used veggies that were a cinch to slice thin, making them easier to chew and digest.   and i think by now you've learned that i love, love, love tahini!  and spicy sriracha...with the tahini...mind. blown.  if you're not so into the spicy factor, don't use the sriracha, the tahini will still be delicious.  

here is to being mindful of what we put in our bodies - to healthful meals, and veggie-love!

raw veggie + ginger rice bowl w/ sriracha tahini

| serves 4 | 

ingredients

for the rice bowl

  • 1 cup black forbidden rice
  • 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
  • 1 bunch bok choy, chopped (about 2 cups)
  • 4 large carrots, cut into matchsticks
  • 1 large zucchini or 2 small zucchinis (i used 1 small zucchini and 1 small summer squash), ribboned, cut into matchsticks, or julienned with a peeler
  • 1 bunch scallions (about 6), sliced thin
  • 1 ripe avocado, sliced
  • 2 tablespoons thai basil, chopped small
  • 1/3 cup raw almonds, toasted and roughly chopped

for the sriracha tahini

| makes about 2/3 cup | 

  • 1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon tahini paste
  • 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon sesame oil
  • 2 tablespoons brown rice vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon sriracha sauce (or more depending on how spicy you want it) 
  • water to thin consistency  

instructions

  • combine rice with ginger in a medium sized saucepan, cover with 2 cups of water and bring to a boil.  once water boils, stir once, cover and turn down heat to low.  cook for 25-30 minutes.  set aside
  • while rice is cooking make the sriracha tahini.  in a medium sized bowl, combine tahini, sesame oil, rice vinegar and sriracha.  one teaspoon at a time, thin sauce to desired consistency.  set aside
  • in a large bowl, combine ginger-rice with the bok choy, carrots, zucchini, and scallions.  serve and top with sliced avocado, basil, almonds and scallions  
  • dress the bowl with a couple dollops of sriracha tahini and enjoy!

 

s'more pie w/ toasted marshmallow meringue /  by Lindsey | Dolly and Oatmeal

it was a big weekend over here with my husband turning 30 and all.  lots of fun celebrating with food, family, and a beautiful sailboat ride through new york harbor.    not to mention this s'more pie.  frank loves s'mores, so naturally i thought i would make him some combination of graham crackers, chocolate, and marshmallow.  i experimented weeks before making this pie with variations of marshmallows.  i even bought grass-fed gelatin to make a traditional kind of gooey marshmallow,  and it came out pretty good.  however, i had a little difficulty wrapping my head around what the powdery substance truly contained, and opted to make another version of marshmallow that didn't contain ground pig hooves (or whatever gelatin is made from).   

a few things to note here...for the graham cracker crust, i used store bought gluten free and vegan graham crackers.  they are not the easiest to find in your local grocery, but can be found online.  i swapped the butter for coconut oil which makes the crust a bit more crumbly, but still delicious.  i also added 1/2 cup more crumbs than the original recipe because the crust was quite thin.  for the chocolate filling, i used dairy, soy and nut free chocolate (mostly because it's dairy free) semi sweet chocolate.  any other semi sweet chocolate will work, or your could go with milk chocolate for a sweeter, more traditional s'more taste.  i used full fat coconut milk for the heavy cream.  the marshmallow is egg-based, but if you're vegan, my blogger friend sophia has been experimenting with flax meringue over at her beautiful blog.  i haven't had the time to make it yet, but it sounds too intriguing not try at some point! 

s'more pie w/ toasted marshmallow meringue

| gluten + dairy free | 

crust and chocolate filling adapted from Smitten Kitchen. marshmallow meringue adapted from Honestly Yum

| makes a 9" pie | 

for the crust

  • 6 tablespoons extra virgin coconut oil, melted
  • 2 cups S'moreables graham cracker crumbs (roughly 18 crackers, finely ground in a food processor)

for the chocolate filling

  • 7 ounces Enjoy Life semi sweet chocolate (or any other chocolate semi sweet chocolate) 
  • 1 cup unsweetened, full fat coconut milk (from a 15 ounce can) 
  • 1 organic, free range egg

for the marshmallow meringue

  • 1 cup pure cane sugar
  • 4 organic, free range egg whites
  • pinch of salt
  • splash of pure vanilla extract

 

directions

make the crust

  • preheat oven to 350° and lightly oil a pie plate with coconut oil.  in a medium sized bowl, mix the graham cracker crumbs and coconut oil; turn out onto pie dish.  press evenly into the bottom and sides of the pan.  bake in the center of the oven for 12-15 minutes; until shell is crisp and slightly browned.  let cool to room temperature, about 1 hour

make the chocolate filling

  • preheat oven back to 350°.  put chocolate in a heatproof bowl.  in a saucepan, bring coconut milk just to a boil, then pour hot cream over chocolate.  let stand for 1 minute, use a whisk to combine until smooth.  gently, whisk in the egg and a pinch of salt until combined; pour into graham cracker shell.  bake in the middle of the oven for 25 minutes, until the chocolate is softly set and giggles a bit in the center.  (deb recommends covering the edges of the graham cracker crust with tin foil before baking the chocolate, however i did not as the graham crackers i used did not burn from extra time in the oven.)
  • on a rack, cool pie to room temperature.  the filling will firm as it cools, about 1 hour

make the marshmallow meringue

  • combine 3/4 cup of the sugar with 1/4 cup of water in a heavy saucepan over medium-high heat.  attach a candy thermometer to the side of the pan and simmer syrup without stirring until the thermometer reads a temperature of 240°, occasionally swirling the pan.  place the egg whites, salt and vanilla in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk.  whip on high until frothy and add the 1/4 cup of sugar.  whip until peaks form
  • reduce speed to medium, and with the mixer running on low pour the hot syrup into the meringue in a steady stream, being careful not to let it touch the side of the bowl or the whisk attachment (if the syrup hits the bowl or whisk it will harden and be difficult to clean.  if it ends up hitting anything just soak in hot water.) 
  • gently spread the marshmallow over the top of the pie.  if eating immediately, turn your oven to broil and toast the marshmallow meringue until lightly browned 30-50 seconds.  if not eating immediately wait to toast until you're ready to eat.  the pie can stay in the fridge for up to one day before toasting

slice carefully and enjoy! 

chopped tahini salad w/ crushed pine nuts + mint /  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!