Flatbread with Spring Vegetables
May 25, 2009
If you like this recipe, I am sure you will love these related recipes!
Christopher and I went out to the Scott' s farm for lunch on Saturday. We really are lucky to have met such a pair in Texas. It' s not often that near strangers are quite so friendly and welcoming: after a single run-in with Aaron Scott at my neighborhood community garden, I managed to score myself (with unabashed prompting and flattery) an invitation to Southern Hope Farm, thirty minutes outside of Houston.
The first time I went was under the guise of a mission—I was to write a Huffington Post about the Scott' s decision to give up the trappings of ‘normal' life and live on a small farm. It really is an extraordinary choice: not just because farm life is hard and all consuming, but also because the sustainable food movement hasn' t exactly hit Houston over the head.
I went back this weekend with Christopher, having finagled yet another invitation. I' d really like to live off the land someday, and I' m constantly compelled to remind Christopher of that. I really do love farms. Funny how they all smell sort of the same…from Texas to Connecticut.
We pulled up late, due mostly to my predictably poor co-piloting. Christopher was harassed by work emails, his little email device (the Bealzeberry) buzzed all along the way. When we pulled up, tensions were high. “What can we do?”I asked Stephanie, referring to lunch. “Relax,”she said, cool, calm, and without a trace of condescension. Generally when people tell me to relax, I feel belittled and fly into a private tizzy. Instead, I filled my nose with the smell of flowering dill and my shoulders dutifully dropped.
The Scotts took us to the back yard to pluck lunch. We chose fennel, zucchini, squash and Swiss chard to be grilled with Aaron' s homemade venison sausage. He killed the buck himself—serious sustainability.
I thought it impolite to snap away at the meal with my clunky camera, so I was glad when the Scotts sent us home with bagfuls of our harvest. Yesterday, when nostalgia and appetite hit hardest, (they generally come as a pair) I used my bounty for a flatbread medley. It wasn' t half bad.
Spring Vegetable Flatbread
Something round and doughy—I used a brown rice tortilla, but pizza dough or a pita would work well, too. (Spring vegetables are an excellent excuse to make homemade focaccia dough… which I will soon do.)
1 c roasted veggies—I used multi-colored carrots from Tuesday' s farmer' s market and a lemon squash from the Scott' s garden.
1 onion, sliced—I used red.
½ c refried black beans—hummus or white bean dip would also work.
1 large bunch Swiss chard, stems removed
¼ c shaved Parmesan / fresh or smoked Mozzarella
A sprinkling of your favorite herbs (I used herbes de Provence)
Olive oil
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Chop the veggies to equal sized parts and roast at 400 degrees about 30-45 minutes, depending on their size and type. (No need to preheat the oven—save energy!)
In the meantime, pour a tablespoon of olive oil into a skillet and add sliced onion. Stir slowly over low heat until deep brown and translucent—at least 20 minutes. If necessary, add more oil. (Sometimes I add a squeeze of Bragg' s Liquid Amino Acids. It offers a nice savory flavor, but can quickly become too salty, so be ware.)
Add chopped chard and sauté until soft, about 3 minutes.
In the meantime, toast your bread and turn your roasting veggies.
Add beans to the skillet to warm.
Spread bean, chard and onion mixture over the flatbread and top with vegetables.
Sprinkle with shaved cheese or more herbs, if you like.
Serves a hungry 1; or 2 as a snack or side dish.
Takes between 30-40 minutes.
(To cut down on time, sauté your vegetable or go raw.)
