Rosemary Flatbread with Sautéed Veggies

It’s no secret that I am a market man. I love the energy of the market, the sights, sounds and smells, building relationships with the vendors, the random conversations, the sense of community that I feel when I go. But the truth is I don’t always have the time to go to the market so I’m glad to have access to services like Unqueue where I can access fresh ingredients. Singing up and ordering on the unqueue shop was easy. There was no hassle with the delivery process and the quality of the items I ordered… mint condition.

This was my first time using the unqueue shop so I took advantage of the fact that I had items available to me that I wouldn’t usually find in Central Market.

The Haul

I ordered some cherry tomatoes

… grape tomatoes (orange)

… a bundle of kale

… some rosemary and thyme

and some oyster mushrooms.

A Quick Word On Oyster Mushrooms

Full Disclosure, I don’t think I have ever eaten oyster mushrooms before far less cook them. So this was real never see come see ting here. I see nice ting and I want nice ting. Even though I have no experience with this ingredient. That’s the beauty of cooking, you get to try new things.

One thing to note is how to store these. When I ordered it I placed it in the refrigerator but by the time I was ready to work on this piece, the mushrooms developed a lot of moisture and became discolored. I did some research online for best practices on storage and the recommendation is storing it in the refrigerator. I also had a conversation with Chef Brigette Joseph who advised the best way to store them is uncovered in the fridge. I will definitely try that next time I order.

Rosemary Flatbread with Sautéed Veggies

The next part of the process was figuring out how to bring all these ingredients together as one meal. I initially thought about a pasta dish but eventually settled on making a rosemary flatbread topped with sautéed veggies.

Rosemary Flatbread Ingredients

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tsp yeast
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp rosemary finely chopped
• 3/4 cup warm water
• 2 tbsp olive oil

sifting the flour is only necessary if you see weevils in the flour

yeast so the dough can rise to the occasion

carefully remove the rosemary leaves from the stalk/stem

chop as finely as possible

Add chopped rosemary to the dry ingredients

Add water and olive oil

Bring ingredients together until a smooth ball of dough is formed. There’s no need to knead this for any specific amount of time to develop any gluten in the dough.

Cover dough and allow it to rest for 30 mins then divide and form into 4 dough balls.

Dust your rolling pin and work surface with flour.

Roll out into an oval shape, approximately 12″ by 5″

Cook for approximately 3 minutes on each side. Wrap in a cloth to store until ready to use.

Sautéed Veggies

I used A LOT of garlic in this meal because I am from the school of “there can never be too much garlic”

I peeled a head of garlic

then it was into the mortar and pestle to turn into garlic paste

I cut the tomatoes in half

the idea is to have a burst of tomato with each bite, so cutting them in half allows them to take seasoning in the pan but maintain some integrity in the dish

the cooking process was fairly simple… sauté the tomatoes with a few teaspoons of the garlic paste in olive oil

season with some salt

a sprinkle of black pepper

some fresh thyme

a little flambé action added a little razzle dazzle to the tomatoes

finished off the tomatoes with a light drizzle of balsamic vinegar. the deep, slightly sweet but sour flavor of the balsamic vinegar was balanced perfectly with the sweetness of the cherry tomatoes

I don’t like overcooking or over seasoning greens

so I tossed the kale with a teaspoon of garlic in some olive oil and a bit of salt

less than one minute on high heat and the kale was done. no overcooking, no over seasoning… maintaining the integrity of the kale here as well as its nutritional benefits

you can use your hands to tear and shred the oyster mushrooms to the desired size you want them

mushrooms are known for their meatiness so I decided to bolster that texture with some meat flavor with some homemade beef tallow

a tablespoon of beef tallow in a frying pan

added the oyster mushrooms with some fresh rosemary

 

because this was my first time preparing oyster mushrooms I didn’t want to mask the flavor with too much seasoning so I kept it simple with salt

and a touch of black pepper

sauté for 7 minutes on medium heat

boom, done

the only thing left to do now is assemble our meal. I started with a bed of the lightly sautéed kale

carefully placed our herb and balsamic cherry tomatoes

and last but definitely not least, our extra meaty oyster mushrooms

boom bang!

If you’re thinking this probably tastes as good as it looks you are absolutely right. The meatiness of the mushrooms, the sweet, sour and tangy tomatoes with the brightness of that lightly sautéed kale is the perfect combination. Honestly, people who say vegetarian cooking/eating is boring definitely have no idea what they’re talking about. This along with a bottle of wine is a sexy meal and perfect for a date night vibe. It is a simple dish that you can cook together with your significant other that you can enjoy without guilt.