turmeric

April 26, 2017 by Lindsey | Dolly and Oatmeal

Sunshine Mung Bean Spread w/ Gluten Free Za'tar Flatbread

meals in general have taken on a life of their own. when amesy was a teeny babe he slept quite often, and so in between those times i was able to get things done. while his naps are more routine these days, they're much less frequent, and shorter, so the need to get creative and make every moment count is essential in order to get anything done. if you follow me over on instagram then you might be aware of my new found love for meal prepping. before having a baby i always strived to dedicate a day during the week for preparing meal components but it was never an essential thing to get frank and i through the week. but now, especially with amesy starting to eat solids, a dedicated meal prep day is super crucial. having plenty of dips and spreads is another thing that is kind of vital around here. i use them to dress up a lunch/dinner bowl, or for a nourishing snack with cut veg and/or crackers or bread.

but more importantly, we're honoring two wonderful humans today, who are going to need all the feel-good snacks that people with a little one need to have. sonja and alex from a couple cooks, just welcomed their beautiful boy, larson ames to the world and i'm just overflowing with happiness for them. and if a new baby isn't sweet enough, sonja told me that larson's middle name, ames, was inspired by our little amesy which always brings tears of joy to my eyes every time i think about it. sonja is the first one to always organize and put together virtual baby showers for so many of us lucky ducks, she goes above and beyond, even when the days were trying. so i'm beyond delighted to share in this special occasion with her and alex, and so many other bloggers today. welcome, welcome, little larson! you are one lucky little guy! and thank you to melissa, sarah, and ashley for putting this baby shower together!

for this dip i used my favorite pulse: mung beans (also know as moong dal which is the split variety). essentially, pulses are the seeds of plants in the legume family, they include: chickpeas, lentils, beans and split peas. i love mung beans mostly because they're easy on the digestive system (especially when they're soaked or sprouted), but also because they're an all-star bean, packed with a great number of vitamins and minerals, plus they're a great source of protein. it varies week to week, but i usually prepare a few different pulses to eat throughout the week, but i'm upping my game even more so because this month but I’m doing my best this month to meet the nutritional guidelines for pulses, eating ½ cup serving of the nutritious ingredients 3 times per week. pulses are not only easy to make, and super versatile (i wrote an entire book on chickpea flour, so you know they can do a lot!), but they're a sustainable food that are drought tolerant, water efficient, and they enrich the soil where they grow making them a natural fertilizer.

this post was created in partnership with usa pulses & pulse canada. all thoughts and opinions, as always, are my own. thank your for supporting the sponsors that help keep dolly and oatmeal going!

check out the other #ACoupleAdopts recipes:

Flourishing Foodie | Avocado and Asparagus Tartines with Basil Pesto
The Full Helping | Individual Strawberry Chocolate Crisps
Snixy Kitchen | Roasted Lemon Mint Pesto Tartines, Two Ways
This Mess Is Ours | Coriander & Lime Scented Cashews
Making Thyme for Health | Hemp Ranch Hummus
Two Red Bowls | Buttered Eggs on Toast, with Radish & Parsley
Cookie and Kate | World’s Greatest Guacamole
Edible Perspective | Tropical Oatmeal Snack Cookies
Eat This Poem | Red Pepper and Walnut Hummus
Brooklyn Supper | Roasted Cauliflower Tacos with Cilantro-Avocado Sauce
Gather & Dine| Muffin Tin Granola Cups with Lemon Greek Yogurt and Berries
The Fauxmartha | Laura’s Sunshine Crackers
FoodieCrush | Baked Beet Chips

Gluten Free Za'tar Flatbread | dolly and oatmeal

sunshine mung bean spread w/ gluten free za'atar flatbread

you can use any pulse here really, but be aware that there might be differences in consistency, and therefore you may need to add more or less tahini or water.

sunshine spread (makes about 2 cups)

1 1/2 cups cooked mung beans (i like using this sprouted variety)
1/2 cup tahini
1/2 cup filtered water
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
sea salt & fresh pepper, to taste
sumac, for garnish
fresh dill and microgreens or pea shoots, for garnish

gluten free za'atar flatbread (makes four 5-6-inch flatbreads)

1 1/4 cup filtered warm water (105°-115°F)
1 teaspoon raw honey
1 packet instant yeast (approximately 2 1/4 teaspoons)
1 cup chickpea flour
1 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup sorghum flour
1/2 cup arrowroot powder
2 teaspoons psyllium husk powder
1 1/2 teaspoons fine sea salt
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for brushing
1/4 cup za'atar
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

method

in a blender or food processor, blend the mung beans, tahini, water, lemon juice, garlic, spices, and salt and pepper to taste. continue blending the mixture scraping down the sides of blender or bowl until the spread is smooth and creamy. add more water if needed to get your desired consistency. transfer the spread to a bowl, cover with cling wrap, and place in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
make the dough. in a bowl, whisk together the water and sugar until it is dissolved. sprinkle in the yeast and let it proof until the surface it foamy, about 10 minutes.
in a large bowl, whisk together the remaining ingredients except the oil. use a wooden spoon to make a well in the center of the flour, then add the yeast mixture and olive oil. stir until dough is mixed. cover the bowl loosely with cling wrap and allow to dough to rise in a warm place (i preheat my oven to warm - about 150°F - and shut it off about 10 minutes before placing the dough inside) until the dough doubles in size, about 30-45 minutes.
preheat oven to 500°F and place a baking stone inside (or a cookie sheet). line a cookie sheet with parchment and set aside. divide the dough in half and wrap one half in cling wrap, place in the freezer for another time. place the other half of dough onto the prepared cookie sheet and dust with more brown rice flour. divide the dough into 4 equal pieces and use your fingers to press it out, using more flour if needed to prevent sticking, until you have four 5-6-inch rounds. cut any parchment hanging over (to prevent any extra paper from burning.) cover the dough with a clean dishcloth to puff up slightly, about 15-20 minutes.
whisk together the za'atar and oil, and spoon it over the dough rounds, using about 3-4 spoonfuls to sufficiently cover the tops. use the cookie sheet to carefully shuffle the parchment and doughs onto the baking stone. bake until golden brown, about 7-8 minutes. et the za'atar bread cool slightly.
serve 1 piece of za'atar bread with 1/2 cup mung bean spread, some sliced veggies, and olives.

similar recipes:

black beluga lentil hummus w/ roasted fennel & garlic

Turmeric Carrot Apple Soup / January 4, 2017 by Lindsey | Dolly and Oatmeal

Turmeric Carrot Apple Soup | dolly and oatmeal

happy 2017! i hope you all had a wonderful beginning to the new year :) frank and i made our yearly tradition of mole sauce, except this year we kinda cheated by using a starter! basically it had all the spices, chiles, and nuts/seeds all ground up and made into a paste so that all we had to do was add sautéed tomatoes, some stock, and salt! somehow it still took 2 hours to make in between soothing our babe, playing with him, stopping to feed and change him, all that good stuff ;) i also took some time to reflect a bit on the past year. it was grand in so many ways. having my cookbook published, being pregnant and having a baby! in many ways it was the most fulfilling year, but also super rough as well. there were quite a few personal hurdles, the emotional suck of the presidential election and its outcome, and the curious world of hormones post-baby. it's been an interesting year to say the least.

when i was about 2 1/2 months postpartum i began waking up with pretty bad joint pain in my fingers, and enough back pain where it was hard doing much of anything with amesy aside from sitting down with him. so, in an effort to combat the pain and inflammation, and my weakened immune system (i hadn't had a cold in about 2 years, but have had 2 colds in the past 3 months!) i began increasing my intake of turmeric. most recently i made turmeric paste which i add to smoothies, teas, warm nut milk, soups, etc. there are a lot of recipes out here for it, but the one i made was a simple blend of ground turmeric, water, black pepper, and coconut oil, which i really love. it's soothing and pungent in all the right ways. some days are better than others, but the pain i was experiencing in the morning has eased significantly and my back is definitely on the mend. in my experience, food has always been the best medicine and while i’m not saying it’s a cure-all for everything, it is always my first go-to in order to heal and repair my body.

i've been meaning to share this soup with you all for quite some time. i made and shot it 3 days before i delivered amesy knowing that i would welcome a warm, replenishing bowl upon coming home from the hospital. as life would have it, it was the last dish i made before having him, and the first thing i ate after having him, so it's a bit of a sentimental recipe to me.

this soup is definitely one of my favorites flavor-wise. i make a version of this with winter squash each year but decided to swap the squash for carrots. the carrots make for a more subdued sweetness and a thinner consistency which is a nice change. mixed together with the tart apple and the earthy turmeric, makes for a beautiful flavor that only gets better the longer the soup sits and the flavors marry. i hope you all enjoy it as much as i do :)

big love to you all for your continued support of this space throughout the years. i hope we continue to grow together in 2017! xo

turmeric carrot apple soup | v & gf

| makes 4 servings |

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 large onion, diced
1 large apple (honeycrisp or another tart apple), peeled and finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 teaspoons ground turmeric
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 1/2 pounds carrots, chopped into 1/2-inch pieces
4 cups low-sodium vegetable stock
1 bundle thyme, tied with string
1/2 cup unsweetened cultured coconut yogurt
sea salt and fresh pepper, to taste

method

heat the oil in a soup pot over medium heat. add the onion and apple and cook until both are soft, about 6-8 minutes. add the garlic, turmeric, and cumin and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. then add the carrots, stock, and thyme and bring it all to a simmer. cover and cook until the carrots are tender, about 20-25 minutes. remove from heat and let the soup sit for 10 minutes.
remove the thyme bundle and carefully blend the soup in a blender or food processor. add the yogurt, season with salt and pepper, to taste. then blend it once more.
transfer the pureed soup back to the soup pot and bring to a simmer. serve soup hot and garnish with toasted pecans, drizzled oil, and thyme sprigs (optional).

similar recipes:

fennel-roasted carrots & shallots w/ shaved apple

warm fingerling potatoes w/ garlic-turmeric sauce / August 18, 2015 by Lindsey | Dolly and Oatmeal

warm fingerling potatoes w/ garlic-turmeric sauce | dolly and oatmeal

raise your hand if there are certain food items that you don't gel with. for a long time i had a strong aversion to cilantro, which i partly blame on a bad guacamole experience when i was younger. however, fast forward a couple years when my husband and i went to costa rica for our honeymoon; we were served cilantro in just about everything, causing me a mild amount of anxiety about whether i wanted to eat most the food there. but after tasting various preparations using different spices and techniques, i was converted forever and now cilantro is one of my favorite herbs.

i mention this because i've had a random week of eating cabbage for almost every evening meal. this is random because i never ever eat cabbage, the taste and smell is something that's never been appealing to me, and many of the cabbage dishes i grew up with were covered in massive amounts of mayo. my distaste for it aside, i decided to pick up 2 baby cabbages at the market the other week, partly because i thought i would experiment with them, but mostly because they were super cute and tiny. they sat in my crisper for the better part of a week before we went out to eat at frank's fave restaurant, hometown, which virtually has zero vegetables on the menu. so naturally, i chose the cabbage slaw. turns out i loved its subtle cabbage-y flavor and the punchiness from what i can only imagine was vinegar. then we made sara's grilled halibut sandwich es and topped them with a good amount of her cabbage and jalepeno slaw, which was maybe the best thing i've eaten in a while!

with 2 very positive cabbage experiences i felt confident enough in my fondness for it. i began conceptualizing this potato dish and thought that their vibrant purple color would play beautifully off the muted fingerlings, plus i was thinking that this dish needed a subtle crunch that the cabbage could surely lend. and that it did. i would confidently say that this is one of my favorite combinations, along with the garlicky turmeric sauce which is punchy, and earthy, and perfectly creamy. i suppose the moral of the story is to never shelf a specific food item; that something can be prepared one way and totally not your thing, while if it's prepared a different way can yield a completely different experience.

happy mid-august, all! xo

warm fingerling potatoes w/ garlic-turmeric sauce (v + gf)

any small potato will work beautifully here, however be sure to adjust the cook time if the potatoes are smaller than your pinkie. the garlic-turmeric sauce gives the potatoes and cabbage a nice creaminess, kind of like a light potato salad. but if that's not your thing, i would suggest maybe using it for dipping.

| serves 4 as a side |

garlic-turmeric sauce

1/2 cup dairy-free cultured coconut yogurt (i use this one)
2 teaspoons tahini paste
1 1/2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
1 large (or 2 small) garlic clove, minced
2 teaspoons grated fresh turmeric (or 1 teaspoon dried ground turmeric)
fine sea salt + freshly ground pepper

potatoes

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus more for brushing
1 pound fingerling potatoes, scrubbed and cut lengthwise
large grain sea salt
freshly ground pepper
1 cup shredded purple cabbage
1/4 cup chopped chives
a few pinches black or white sesame seeds

method

for the sauce

in a bowl, whisk together the yogurt, tahini, vinegar, garlic, and turmeric, season with salt and pepper. taste and adjust as necessary. place in a lidded jar and place in the refrigerator until ready to use.

for the potatoes

preheat the oven to 400*F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. use a pastry brush to brush the paper liberally with olive oil, set aside.
in a bowl, toss together the potatoes and olive oil, sprinkle with large grain salt and fresh pepper. place the potatoes cut-side down on the prepared baking sheet and roast until the bottoms are lightly browned, about 20-22 minutes. use tongs to turn potatoes over and roast until potatoes are golden and tender, about 10 minutes. remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes. then toss together with shredded cabbage and chives.
remove sauce from refrigerator and give it a good stir; drizzle potatoes with the sauce and toss together. serve potatoes warm with more turmeric sauce if desired.

enjoy!