basil

a pickled corn succotash salad + pure green magazine's hashtag project #pgminseason ! /  by Lindsey | Dolly and Oatmeal

the week is almost over (yay for wednesdays!) and i have a super duper salad here for you today.  normally a succotash is prepared by cooking most of the ingredients on the stovetop, and in most cases favas or other beans are involved.  today, i have prepared a pickled corn succotash that's super appropriate for a hot august day (although, temps around here have been oddly cool) and is comprised of most of what is available to me at my market - long beans, heirloom tomatoes, fragrant herbs, chili peppers, sweet juicy nectarines and veggie blossoms.  high-fives for in season fare!  

as many of you know laura, claire, and i have teamed up with the Pure Green Magazine blog to talk about our in season food ethics, share some recipes where we incorporate summer's produce, and be community leaders for their Instagram Hashtag Project: #PGMinseason.  so, today i'm over there talking about where i shop for produce in and around brooklyn, how i store produce to keep them at their most fresh, and why i think we and our communities are better off when we are able to buy in season, local produce!   and i'm also sharing the recipe for this tangy, herbaceous, slightly sweet, and crunchy, pickled corn succotash salad here! 

have a good one, friends! xo

chickpea flour flatbread w/ new potatoes + fresh basil (v + gf) /  by Lindsey | Dolly and Oatmeal

as i'm sure many of you know, anya, from the beautiful blog, Golubka, released her first cookbook, The Vibrant Table a few weeks ago.  i was lucky enough to receive a copy and have been anxiously plotting out what i will make first.  first of all, this cookbook is more than a cookbook; it's a guide on healthy, wholesome, CONSCIOUS eating - with a preface that frames all the ingredients in the book and explains why anya utilizes them (some of which i have never heard of before, but am totally jazzed to use - maca + mesquite!). not only do her recipes reflect her culture and heritage, but they are also a celebration of family and meals for all kinds of occasions.  moreover, the photos (all of which her daughter take - both for her blog and the cookbook!) weave a beautifully, vibrant food story.

i've been working on a flatbread recipe for some time using chickpea/garbanzo bean flour.  there's been a lot trial and error - substituting half the garbanzo bean flour for other GF flours, adding various amounts of oil and water and adding different herbs and spices.  finally, i reached a consistency and texture that i'm super pleased with - crispy and thin without much of a crumble!  i've been waiting for just the right mix of ingredients to top this flatbread, so when i received my copy of The Vibrant Table (and immediately read through it!) and saw anya's fingerling potato and rosemary flatbread, i knew i had found the perfect way to top off my flatbread.  new potatoes are popping up at all the markets around me, as well as leafy herbs and freshly plucked onions, so i chose to make a few changes to the original recipe based on what was available to me.  all in all, the garlic-smeared flatbread with slightly sweet potatoes, shiitakes, onions and some toasted pine nuts, came out to be one of the loveliest combos i've ever had.  thank you to anya for the inspiration! 

chickpea flour flatbread w/ new potatoes + fresh basil (v + gf)

| makes 2 flatbreads |

flatbread topping adapted from The Vibrant Table

i didn't have all the ingredients from anya's flatbread recipe, she uses rolled oats, quinoa flakes, nuts, zucchini and chia seeds that i would imagine to be super tasty.  but if you're not gluten free, substituting your favorite/go-to flatbread recipe is totally ok too! 

ingredients

dough

  • 2 cups garbanzo bean/chickpea flour, plus more for dusting
  • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus more for coating bowl
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
  • 6-8 tablespoons water

topping

  • roughly 12 ounces assorted new potatoes, thinly sliced (preferably with a mandoline)
  • 1 head of garlic
  • 4-6 shiitake mushrooms, stems removed and sliced thin
  • 1 small red onion, sliced thin
  • 1/4 cup fresh basil, julienned
  • 2 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted
  • olive oil for brushing
  • sea salt + fresh ground pepper

instructions

  • place the sliced potatoes in a large bowl; cover the slices with cold water and 1 tablespoon sea salt.  let sit for about 1 hour
  • preheat oven to 350°.  slice off the top of the garlic head to expose the insides.  peel most of the surrounding layers of paper and place inside a piece of foil.  sprinkle with salt, pepper, and a drizzle of olive oil, wrap foil and place in a small baking dish or ramekin.  roast for 25-30 minutes - until cloves can be easily pierced with a sharp knife.  squeeze garlic cloves into a small bowl and mash with the back of a fork; set aside

for the crust

  • in a large bowl, whisk flour, baking powder and salt.  add the olive oil and mix with your hands until oil is evenly dispersed and the flour resembles small crumbles.  by the tablespoon, work water in little by little with your hands - you may need more or less water depending on your brand of flour.  in the end, you want your dough to be pliable, but not too sticky.  once dough comes together kneed and form into a smooth ball, brush with a bit of oil and cover with a dish towel - let rest in the bowl for 8-10 minutes
  • divide dough evenly into 2 pieces (place second piece back in the bowl and cover).  take a large piece of parchment paper and dust it with flour.  form dough into an disk and flour the top of the dough (you can either use a second piece of parchment or a floured rolling pin), and roll dough into a 9-10 inch circle - if edges crack just pinch back together
  • repeat with second piece of dough when ready

assemble flatbread

  • preheat oven to 400° with a baking sheet inside
  • drain and rinse the potato slices, pat dry.  using a pastry brush, smooth top of dough with a 1/4 of the roasted garlic puree, then evenly arrange potato slices, overlapping the edges of slices until the dough is covered.  lightly brush with olive oil and sprinkle with salt + pepper.  transfer the flatbread, with the parchment, to the oven and bake for 16-18 minutes
  • remove flatbread from oven and add half the mushrooms and onion, then add another 1/4 of the garlic puree and a small sprinkle of salt.  bake for about 13 minutes, remove, add basil and then cook for another 2 minutes.  remove flatbread and transfer to a cutting board. slice bread and top a tablespoon of toasted pine nuts.  serve and enjoy!
  • repeat with other piece of dough

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!