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. And I also had a conversation with Chef Brigette Joseph who advised the best way to store them is uncovered in the fridge. Trying that next time for sure.
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.
Ingredients
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tsp yeast
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp rosemary finely chopped
- ¾ cup warm water
- 2 tbsp olive oil
Instructions
- See Recipe Notes For Directions
Notes
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.
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