ginger + lemon zest granola w/ puffed quinoa /  by Lindsey | Dolly and Oatmeal

part of my morning routine includes drinking a mug full of warm lemon-ginger water each day.  years ago i had been told that drinking lemon water in the morning helps aid the digestive process for the day, helps to boost the immune system, and aids in the cleansing of the liver to boot.  for me, starting my day off like this has been a way to balance and maintain a healthy and more cleansed system.  after all that birthday celebrating last month, and eating foods with more sugar than i'm used to, i began incorporating grated ginger into my lemon water for its anti-inflammatory properties.  i began thinking of ways to incorporate these two flavor powerhouses into things i eat regularly and with autumn here, granola seemed like a good candidate.  

store-bought granola isn't usually my jam, but when i make it at home you can be sure that i down it by the handful.  for years i've made heidi's granola from her cookbook, Super Natural Everyday, and i have to say that it is my favorite by far!  granola is one of those things that lends itself to so many flavor varieties that it's hard to nail down which are your favorite.  i'm usually a fan of granola that's low on the dried fruit, high on nuts and seeds, and sweetened slightly with a touch of salt.  ideally, the texture is always crunchy, but here i decided to add more crunch, and dare i say pop (!), to this granola with the inclusion of puffed quinoa. while i never found the puffed version of quinoa in any health stores or grocery stores in brooklyn or the city, i did manage to find them online here .  i highly recommend this puffed version, as it has been making its way into just about anything and everything i can think of.   in any event, the ginger and lemon combination was pretty spot on and is a new staple in our household.

ginger + lemon zest granola w/ puffed quinoa - GF + V

  if you do not have puffed quinoa on hand, substitute puffed brown rice or 1 cup rolled oats.  if using ground ginger, reduce the amount to 1 teaspoon and taste to adjust to your liking.  

| makes about 5 cups | 

 

ingredients

  • 3 cups gluten free rolled oats
  • 1 1/2 cups puffed quinoa
  • 1 cup raw almonds, roughly chopped
  • 1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • zest of one large lemon
  • 2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger
  • 1/4 cup coconut oil
  • 1/2 cup raw honey

instructions 

 

  • preheat oven to 300° and line two rimmed baking trays with parchment
  • in a large bowl, combine the rolled oats, puffed quinoa, almonds, cinnamon, cardamom and salt.  once mixed, add the lemon zest and fresh grated ginger, mix until combined - about a minute
  • in a microwave-safe bowl, heat the honey until warm and runny - 20-30 seconds.  add the coconut oil and let it rest until melted
  • add the honey mixture to the oat mix and stir thoroughly until combined - about 1 minute
  • divide the granola between the two baking trays and spread in a thin layer. bake, for 35-45 minutes.  stir the granola a couple of times until toasted and golden.  (you may want to rotate pans top to bottom to make sure the granola is cooking evenly.)
  • remove from oven.  let the granola cool completely (this allows the granola to get all clumpy!)  once cooled break up the granola into chunks and store in an airtight container at room temp  

sprinkle on yogurt or fresh fruit, eat as cereal with some almond milk.  it can also be used to top fruit crumbles, or eaten dry as a snack.  enjoy!

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!