carrot gazpacho with lemongrass / March 30, 2016 by Lindsey | Dolly and Oatmeal

carrot gazpacho with lemongrass | dolly and oatmeal

i know last week i talked about the spring cookbook season, but we're getting into the thick of here! love & lemons is one of the first internet food spaces i visited and became a fan of before i even had a blog of my own. i always admired jeanine's simple, easily prepared but flavorful dishes, and her husband's light, bright, and airy photography. their book, the love & lemons cookbook, is the best kind of extension from their blog that they create together - thoughtful, charming design, and heavy on beautiful food photos. my favorite part (which gave me actual goosebumps!) is where jeanine lays out recipe diagrams in the back of the book. among others, there's one for pesto with variations including: traditional, pepita, zucchini, and mint. it's quite possibly the most fun and inventive thing i've seen in a cookbook in a long while!

truth be told i've never made a gazpacho. i've surely eaten my fair share, but making a cold soup never appealed to me for some reason. perhaps i never came across the right recipe, or maybe i have too much nostalgia for simmering veggies over a hot stove. but you can totally count me as a gazpacho convert now. first of all, it's super easy on the prep, "cook", and cleanup - which are waaaay important for us all, i'm sure. secondly, i thought that the raw-ness of the soup wouldn't make for that soup-y aroma i know and love, the one that fills your house with cozy scents. so i was pleasantly surprised when i left my kitchen and came back in to a waft of fragrant sweet carrots, a hint of aromatic lemongrass, and punchy curry paste. i cannot wait to dig in to more of this book and explore more of what i've been missing these years!

xo's!

*ps there's still time to enter last week's giveaway of autumn giles book, beyond canning. the giveaway ends this friday at 5pm.

carrot gazpacho with lemongrass | v + gf

since i never made a gazpacho before, i followed jeanine's recipe exactly. the only addition i did make was adding some crushed red pepper to the garnish just for a little extra heat.

| serves 4 |

1 stalk lemongrass
16 ounces (450 g) peak-season carrots, peeled and slices, about 2 bunches
1 (14-ounce/414-mL) can light or full-fat coconut milk; reserve 1/4 cup for garnish
1 clove garlic
2 tablespoons (30 mL) extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
2 tablespoons (30 mL) sherry vinegar
1 teaspoon (5 mL) red curry paste
1/2 cup (125 mL) filtered water
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

optional garnishes

hemp seeds
pepitas
microgreens
drizzles of coconut milk

method

prepare the lemongrass by cutting off the root end and the tough upper stem of the stalk. remove the one or two layers of outer leaves and finely chop the tender, aromatic part of the lemongrass.
using a high-speed blender, combine the lemongrass, carrots, coconut milk, garlic, olive oil, sherry vinegar, red curry paste, water, and a few generous pinches of salt and pepper. blend until smooth. if you're not using a high-speed blender like a vitamix, strain the soup and blend again until completely smooth.
chill for at least 4 hours. if the soups thickens in the fridge, stir in a little more cold water. add more salt and pepper, to taste.
drizzle with olive oil and serve with desired garnishes.

enjoy!

more spring soup recipes:

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!

similar recipes:

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

vodka gingerade w/ spring herbs / March 18, 2016 by Lindsey | Dolly and Oatmeal

@Hangar1Vodka gingerade w/ spring herbs | dolly and oatmeal #FreshPickedVodka

spring is nearly here and i couldn't be more grateful! the beginning of this year brought on quite a bit of personal stress, so i'm extremely excited to let the winter pass by, and hold on to the more fond memories it gave us. the air has been a little more dense with moisture as opposed to the light, crisp air we've had for most of the winter (except those days when it was nearly 60 degrees - wink-wink). the sun is showering us with more of its golden light, and there are more and more morning chirps from the birds in our crab apple tree.

for me, spring is the most optical season - where one can witness life and growth so vividly, and experience just how darn amazing this planet is. it's also the time of year where we collectively emerge from hibernation mode and perhaps seek long walks, fresh air, getting our hands in some dirt, and having friends over for weekend get togethers.

early spring is still somewhat bare here in nyc. aside from croqueses and forsythia, the first few signs are when mint, oregano, and thyme leaves casually pop through the earth, or when i notice that there are tiny chive shoots breaking through as well. and even though they're tiny gestures, it's still a sign of all the abundance that's yet to come!

i partnered up with H angar 1 Vodka a few months ago to celebrate vodka picking season, and the fresh ingredients they infuse their vodka with. and while i wasn't partaking in any alcoholic beverages for most of the winter, an afternoon cocktail party to honor the impending spring months, and its seasonal goods was too compelling to pass up. i wanted to create something bright and lively, so a zippy vodka gingerade seemed the like the perfect thing to enliven the senses for this new season! the punchy gingerade is made from fresh steeped ginger that's blended up, and sieved; it's then mixed with fresh lemon-lime juice and agave for a sweet, spicy, and citrusy blender. there's also an assortment of muddled spring herbs, fizzy water, and Hangar 1 Straight Vodka for good measure ;)

all the warm, sunny spring vibes to you! xo

*this post was created in partnership with Hangar 1 Vodka. all of the opinions expressed, as always, are my own. thank you so much for supporting the sponsors that keep dolly and oatmeal going!

vodka gingerade w/ spring herbs

if you or a guest do not or cannot drink alcohol, the gingerade mixed with sparkling water is a great substitute and tastes delicious.

gingerade

| makes roughly 3 1/2 cups |

1 six-inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and sliced thin
2 cups water
2 lemons, juiced
3 limes, juiced
1/2 cup raw agave

vodka gingerade

2 parts H angar 1 S traight Vodka
2 sprigs spring herbs (i used a mix of mint, lemon thyme, and marjoram)
2 parts gingerade
1 part sparkling water
ice
lime wedges, to serve

method

to make the gingerade, combine the ginger and water in small a saucepan. bring the mixture to a boil, then turn the heat off. steep the ginger and water for 10 minutes, then carefully transfer the mixture to a blender (preferably a high speed blender, but a regular one will work just as well) and blend on high for 30-45 seconds, until ginger is broken down. pour the ginger-water through a fine mesh sieve or cheesecloth, and discard the pulp. whisk in the lemon juice, lime juice, and agave. let the mixture come to room temperature, then store in a lidded jar. (*note: the mixture will be quite concentrated, so do not be put off by its strong taste, it will be diluted with added with the vodka and sparkling water later on.)
in a lowball glass, crush the herb sprigs, then add the ice, Hangar 1 Straight Vodka, gingerade, and sparkling water; give it a gently stir and serve with lime or lemon wedges.

enjoy!