avocado

Chickpea & Avocado Tzatziki Salad + A Grohe Faucet Giveaway! / June 1, 2016 by Lindsey | Dolly and Oatmeal

when i first began to conceptualize my cookbook everything was basically a blur. writing an ingredient-based, single-subject book seemed a little one dimensional, so i really wanted to ground it in something tangible, something that gave the subject of chickpea flour some context. using chickpea flour throughout the year to highlight its versatility made sense to me, and more broadly how to incorporate chickpea flour into dishes throughout the year so you're not stuck with a whole bag of it just for those times you want to make socca.

pretty early on in my book proposal process i wanted the chapters to flow as months of year rather than chapters made up of appetizers, entrees, desserts, etc., from there, i tried to give each month an equal amount of breakfast options, lighter lunch fare, entrees, and sweets. one category i didn't plan on having much inventory in was the snacking/noshing section. as i got into the recipe testing phases, i started playing around with a chickpea "polenta" dish. during that process i saw that when chickpea flour and water was heated over the stove, it turns into a melted cheese/roux consistency. i had an idea of adding that creamy mix to a nut-based dip or cheese sauce to give it even more rich texture. so many of them turned out so good, and tasted so spot on, that i included a bunch in the book.

one of those recipes was a chickpea flour-based tzatziki dip that comes so close to the original, that i still question whether i'm eating dairy or not. besides using it for dipping, i love adding it to grain bowls or salads as a creamy alternative to a tahini or yogurt-based sauce. in this recipe it's the dressing for a super simple chickpea and avocado salad that adds a mellow coolness from the dill and cucumber. this is a perfect picnic salad (it's totally vegan, so you don't have to worry about it going bad on a warm day), a simple lunch, or as a companion to a dinner meal.

as for the major giveaway! grohe was kind enough to send me one of their stellar new faucet to try out, and i couldn't be more impressed with not only the design, but its functionality as well. when it comes to faucets i'm not that picky. if it works and does the job, i'm pretty happy about it. but after experiencing its pull-out spray head, and the toggle between normal water flow and spray, i'm pretty much smitten. as for the giveaway, grohe is giving away 4(!!!) of their eurocube faucets to 4 lucky winners, with the first winner being chosen Friday, June 10, and the final winner being chosen Friday, July 3. enter here for a chance to win (giveaway is open to US residents only). good luck! :)

*this post was created in partnership with grohe. all opinions, as always, are my own.

chickpea &avocado tzatziki salad | v

if you're not vegan/dairy-free feel free to use a tzatziki of your choice (even though i think you should give mine a shot - wink,wink). i also think that cannellini or navy beans would work well here, as well as any fresh greens you have on hand.

| serves 2 as a meal, 4 as a side |

tzatizki

1 medium cucumber, grated with a box grater
1 cup water
1/4 cup chickpea flour
1/4 cup raw cashews, soaked (up to 4 hours or overnight)
2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
1 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
sea salt & fresh pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill

salad

1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
big handful fresh baby spinach, mesclun greens, or baby arugula
3 radishes, shaved on a mandolin
1 bunch spring onions, white and light greens parts sliced thin
1 ripe avocado, chunked
fine sea salt & fresh pepper, to taste
3 tablespoons -1/4 cup tzatziki
1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds
herb or vegetable flowers (optional)

method

tzatziki

place the grated cucumber in a fine-mesh sieve. use your palm and push to squeeze out as much liquid as possible; set aside
in a small saucepan, whisk together the water and flour until smooth. turn heat to medium and continue whisking until the mixture thickens, about 6 to 7 minutes; the mixture will resemble a roux or melted cheese. remove from the heat.
place the flour mixture, cashews, garlic, vinegar, oil, lemon juice, and salt and pepper, to taste, in a high-speed blender; blend for 1 minute until smooth. Pour the mixture into a bowl; stir in the grated cucumber and dill. let the tzatziki come to room temperature, then refrigerate for at least 4 hours.
remove from the refrigerator when ready to serve and give it a good stir.

salad

place chickpeas, sliced radishes, onions, and avocado in a large bowl. season with salt and pepper.
add tzatziki and toss. taste and adjust, adding more tzatziki, salt, or pepper if needed.
garnish with toasted sesame seeds and herb or vegetable flowers.

enjoy!

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pea shoot, radish + fermented jalapeño tostadas / March 25, 2016 by Lindsey | Dolly and Oatmeal

pea shoot, radish + fermented jalapeño tostadas | dolly and oatmeal

the beginning of spring gets me every time. the simple pleasures of warmth, growth, and outside vibes are enough to make me super giddy. i'm looking forward to a less agitated beginning of spring since last year there was a stressful move to our new apartment while i was in the midst of finishing up my cookbook. so i can't wait to get out into our little outside space and bring our backyard back to life a bit earlier this year. i'm hoping to plant some of my favorite plants, veggies, and bushes, including sweet honeysuckle, perhaps a raspberry and edlerflower vine, and i'm super hopeful about growing a rhubarb bushel. i guess we shall see if these grow in brooklyn too!

spring also means a slew of new cookbooks hitting the shelves! i couldn't be more excited for so much of the creativity and beauty that dress the pages of so many bloggers and cooks that i admire. so in the spirit of cookbook season, i'm sharing a recipe from autumn giles (of autumn makes and does), new cookbook, beyond canning! i was so excited for this book, because i am totally overwhelmed by all things preserving, fermenting, pickling, etc.! when i opened autumn's book it was like a breath of fresh air - a steady voice guiding me through the steps until boom!, i had fermented my first piece of food without incident! for this and many other recipes you will need a kitchen scale (which i've been using for a while now, and have really become reliant on especially when baking), mason jars/weck jars/ ball jars, salt, and water. the fermented jalapeños were so welcome in this breakfast tostada situation, adding heat and tons of flavor that i'm eager to add them to a salad or blend them up in a dressing. autumn also provides a recipe for fermented jalapeño salsa, which i think i'll definitely be making with the leftovers as well!

and i'm thrilled to give away a copy of beyond canning: new techniques, ingredients, and flavors to preserve, pickle, and ferment like never before, to one reader (giveaway open worldwide!). if you'd like to enter, please leave a comment below about your favorite spring or summer-time produce to preserve throughout the season - as a beginer who needs all the help i can get, i'd love to hear your thoughts! thank you for entering :) *giveaway closes friday, april 1 at 5pm EST

pea shoot, radish + fermented jalapeño tostadas | gf

these can easily be made vegan by substituting the sunny egg for a chickpea or tofu scramble, or even leaving that off altogether and adding a grain like quinoa or brown basmati rice.

fermented jalapeños

| makes 1 scant quart |

340 grams jalapeño slices; you can decide how thick you’d like them
5 percent brine to cover by at least 1 inch

tostadas

| makes 4 tostadas |

8 toasted tortillas (i like these)
1 batch 5-spice black beans, (omit cayenne pepper)
roughly 1/4 cup fermented jalapeños
2 radishes sliced paper thin on a mandolin
handful of pea shoots or microgreens
extra virgin olive oil
4 organic farm eggs
1-2 avocados, pitted and sliced thin
hot sauce (optional)
salt and fresh pepper

method

fermented jalapeños

make the brine. place a quart mason jar on a kitchen scale. zero the scale. fill it with water. calculate 5% of the weight of the water, add that amount in salt which creates the 5% brine. cover and shake the jar until salt is dissolved.
drop the jalapeño slices into a clean quart mason jar, shaking the jar side to side to help them settle, but not packing them down. if you slice them especially thick, you may not fit the full amount in the jar. fill the jar only to its shoulder.
pour the brine into the jar so that it completely covers the jalapeños. jiggle a wooden chopstick around in the jar to help remove air bubbles.
weight the contents, secure with an airlock, and allow the jalapeños to ferment for up to 2 weeks. you may begin tasting for doneness after 3 days. jalapeños and other hot peppers have a tendency to produce more surface yeasts than other vegetables, so if that happens, don't be alarmed, just skim it off and proceed with fermentation.
cover, label, and refrigerate.

tostadas

toast the tortillas using tongs over a gas stovetop flame, or heat them in the oven until warm. plate one tortilla and top with the beans, a couple of jalapeños and radishes, and some pea shoots (or microgreens). top with another tortilla and set aside. (repeat with remaining tortillas before you cook the eggs.)
heat a skillet over medium heat and add enough olive oil to thinly coat the pan. once the pan is hot, carefully crack the eggs into the pan and cook until whites are set, but yolk is still a bit runny, about 5-6 minutes.
top each tostada with 1 egg, a few slices of avocado, more jalapeños, radishes, and pea shoots. drizzle with hot sauce (optional), a sprinkle of salt, and a few grinds of pepper.

enjoy!

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balsamic roasted asparagus w/ fried capers + a 7-minute egg

mung bean + cilantro falafel tacos / March 17, 2015 by Lindsey | Dolly and Oatmeal

mung bean falafel tacos | dolly and oatmeal

spring is right here, it's close enough you can literally taste it in the air. the bits of dirty snow have but all melted away leaving behind pieces of litter from months prior. we're all happy for longer days, and grateful once again our favorite star is here to give us more light. my senses are alive once again it seems, breathing in fresh cool air, seeing tiny buds outside on the forsythia bush, and the scent of salty sea air has returned since its thaw.

things around here are a bit in flux at the moment; new exciting projects on the horizon, a move to a new apartment that's been in the works, and the new 'do i gave to my blog :)

i've been working on the redesign sporadically for a few months now, with frank's help of course. it seems that each year i'm redefining this space - what it is to me, but also how others come to it and why. in the spirit of trying to make things easier for people, i redesigned the recipe index in a way that's easy to navigate both alphabetically, and also categorically. there's a nifty side bar too that i'm excited about, hopefully you find it interactive and fun; i know i love clicking around on other blogs, so i thought i'd bring a little bit of that here! the search bar is pretty sweet, as well as the blog archives that is categorized by months of the year. so here's to hoping you all like the new look!

okay, these falafels! falafels are the kind of thing i love to eat, love to make, love to freeze and then reheat. lately i've been experiencing pretty bad digestive thangs (we won't go into that though...), i've been following a steady diet full of things that are easy on the digestive system. among them are split mung beans, or moong dal. i've been making my fair share of soups and such that incorporate these mighty beans, but thought they would be super in a baked falafel situation. they, along with the quinoa add a subtle flavor, that when mixed with tons of warming spices comes out to one of the best tasting falafels i've had. i tend to go without the tortilla, but frank insists they're the best when rolled all up in a taco; hence, this falafel taco! i added a very humble avocado and radish salad, plus tonnnns of cilantro, all with a healthy dose of tahini sauce!

sending warm springy vibes to you all! xo

mung bean + cilantro falafel tacos (v + gf)

soaking the beans and quinoa as directed below is to make them easier to digest. if you skip the soaking step, i recommend rinsing and draining both the beans and quinoa before cooking.

| makes 32 falafels |

1 cup moong dal (aka split mung beans), soaked overnight and drained
1 cup quinoa, soaked overnight and drained
1/4 cup chickpea flour
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, more for serving
2 leeks, trimmed and sliced
3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
juice from 1 lemon
1 1/2 - 2 teaspoons sea salt
2 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 1/2 - 2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon mild paprika
olive oil, for brushing
course sea salt, for topping
brown rice tortillas/corn tortillas/etc., toasted

tahini drizzle

1/4 cup tahini paste
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
pepper, to taste
2 teaspoons sumac
1/4 cup cold water

radish + avo salad

1 ripe avocado, pitted and sliced into chunks
4 radishes, thinly sliced or shaved on a mandolin
splash of oil and vinegar
pinch of salt
1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds

instructions

make the falafels

place the mung beans in a saucepan and cover with at least 3-inches of water. bring to boil, stir, and turn heat down to a simmer. cook for 7-9 minutes, until tender. drain beans if need be and set aside.
cook quinoa according to instructions on package. set aside.
warm a skillet over medium heat and add chickpea flour, toast for 1-2 minutes, swirling around to prevent burning, until golden and fragrant. remove from heat and place in a bowl, set aside.
place drained mung beans and quinoa in a food processor fitted with a metal S blade; add cilantro, leeks, garlic, lemon juice, salt and spices. blend mixture until combined; taste and adjust salt and/or lemon juice, or other spices. add toasted chickpea flour and blend once more until combined. transfer falafel mix to a large bowl, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
preheat oven to 400° and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. scoop out golf ball sized pieces of mixture and shape into balls with the palm of your hands. place on baking sheet and repeat with remaining mixture. using a pastry brush, brush tops and bottoms of falafel patties and sprinkle both sides with course sea salt. bake in oven for 20-25 minutes, rotating halfway through until golden brown.
place 4-5 falafel patties in each tortilla, top with avocado and radish salad. drizzle with tahini sauce, cilantro, and extra sumac (optional), and serve warm.

sauce

in a medium bowl, whisk together tahini sauce ingredients. taste and adjust salt and lemon juice if need be. cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to use.

salad