einkorn & oat flatbread w kale pesto, caramelized onions, avocado, peach, & sumac (vegan) via will frolic for food

I spent an unusual amount of time this past weekend convincing good ol' country boys to drink coconut water out of green, boulder-like Florida coconuts. We -- the Coconauts team -- set up our tent: the top covered in a hand-stitched patchwork quilt, white garden reemay hanging like curtains from all corners, tables clothed in tie-dye and flowers. We filled our ice chests full of young coconuts and chalked up our signs.

From the first day to the last, we met children and adults alike who told us stories of their childhood or their vacation spent in China or S. India or Hawaii, where they had slurped coconuts with their tops macheted off, picked from great toppling piles on the beach. How many people told me that same story I can't even count. I have a similar story, myself. Except it involves Logan climbing coconut trees and cutting coconuts off with a machete attached to a long stick. And then smashing the coconuts against rocks to open them.

After the long weekend of set-up, coconut slinging, and breakdown Logan and I (and the rest of our awesome team) are beat. It's Wednesday and we're just starting to feel normal again. So, I pulled aside the curtain hanging in the doorway between the living room and the kitchen with the intention of creating a flatbread with the last of my einkorn flour -- inspired by Dolly & Oatmeal's Chickpea Flatbread.

Working with wheat -- even a very ancient wheat like einkorn -- calms my nerves. The meditative mixing of flours with water, drawing the dough together, licking bits off of your fingers. Watching as the flours form a smooth ball, the ball forms a smooth rectangle on a baking sheet. It's probably nostalgia for times in my teens when I was learning to make pie & pizza crusts with my mother. Or maybe, bread being a traditional food, it's that human desire to be connected with the human story, with the tapestry we're weaving with our presence on this planet. The way bakers and pasta makers seem to silently regard each other with respect and understanding -- they know something we don't know. Every loaf is contributing to the human story.

In the back of my mind, I make plans for a perfect loaf of bread made from einkorn. Then I can spend my mornings prepping my loaf to rise -- fingers and shirt dusted in flour, kneading as all of our ancestors kneaded; my evenings spent baking and filling the house with the familiar smell of fresh bread.

For now it's flatbread. Simple, no rising required. Piled with what I had on hand -- cold stone fruits from my ice box, avocado, onion, kale from my garden.

There's a lot that unexpected here: bitter kale pesto, sweet roasted peaches, a cracker-like crust made with oat & einkorn (you can easily sub for spelt if you can't find einkorn), not to mention tangy sumac and onions that have been caramelized until almost burned. This is the sort of light meal that I crave in the Summer heat. It's practically pizza -- in looks, anyhow. It makes a decadent, nourishing, tasty bite as an appetizer, too -- just cut it into little squares and serve on some stunning reclaimed wood platter (like the kind I dream of owning someday). Chill & impressive both.

What is einkorn? Einkorn is an ancient grain in the wheat family that’s been grown in small regions of Turkey but was never widely distributed until recently. Where Emmer wheat has been hybridized and developed over the last 2000 years, Einkorn has been mostly untouched — in fact it still retains some characteristics of wild wheat. Einkorn and Emmer wheat have completely different strains of gluten proteins, and so Einkorn is sometimes safe for those with non-celiac gluten intolerance. If you have celiac or non-celiac gluten intolerance, you should consult your doctor before consuming. I will say, as someone with NCGI, I can digest it quite well — whereas I have problems with spelt and other Emmer derived wheats. Einkorn has a nutty, slightly lemon-y flavor and the flour has a soft texture. It’s high in lutein, protein, b6, phosphorous, potassium, and essential fatty acids. I buy mine online from Jovial Foods.

Peach, Avocado, & Caramelized Onion Flatbread w/ Kale Pesto & Sumac (Vegan)

Ingredients

Peach, Avocado, & Caramelized Onion Flatbread w/ Kale Pesto & Sumac (Vegan)

two einkorn oat flatbreads
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup kale pesto
roasted peaches
caramelized onion
1 avocado, halved vertically and sliced lengthwise
½ teaspoon sumac

Einkorn Oat Flatbread

1 cup oat flour (I grind oats in a food processor to make mine)
1 cup + 2 tablespoons einkorn flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon coarse sea salt ground until medium-fine (I use J.Q. Dickinson Salt)
3 tablespoons olive oil + 1 tablespoon olive oil to coat the bowl (I use ZOE)
9-10 tablespoons water

For the Caramelized Onion

1 medium sweet white onion
¼ cup olive oil

For the Kale Pesto

2 cups packed lacinato kale
½ cup olive oil
1 tablespoon mellow white miso
3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1 garlic clove
½ cup young coconut meat or cashew cream
½ cup parsley
2 teaspoons lemon juice

Roasted Peaches (this can be made simultaneously with the flatbread)

5 medium peaches, with pit removed, sliced into wedges (about 6-8 per peach)
2 tablespoons olive oil

Instructions

To assemble the Peach, Avocado, & Caramelized Onion Flatbread w/ Kale Pesto: Brush ½ tablespoon of olive oil on each flatbread. Spread ½ cup of kale pesto on each einkorn oat flatbread. Top with caramelized onion, adding about half of your batch to each flatbread. Add peach slices to each flatbread (as many as you please, really). Add slices of avocado to each flatbread, about half an avocado each. Sprinkle sumac over each flatbread. To serve, cut into squares. Serve warm
To make the Flatbread: Preheat your oven to 400F. Grease a baking sheet or cookie pan lightly with olive oil, or line with parchment paper. In a large bowl, combine oat flour, einkorn flour, baking powder, and sea salt. Stir to get everything well incorporated. Add 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Add water 3 tablespoons at a time, stirring to incorporate after each addition. Use your hands to draw your dough into a smooth ball. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of olive oil over your dough ball, and spread the olive oil over until it's well oiled. Cover with a cloth and let rest 15 minutes. Split your dough in half. Roll out each half into a loose rectangle (I rolled mine out over parchment paper). Quickly lift and place each rectangle on your baking sheet (mine were just barely touching -- if yours don't fit together on one sheet, bake on separate baking sheets on the middle rack of your oven at the same time or individually). Bake for 15 minutes. Your flatbreads will have begun to turn a golden brown on the edges. Let cool 15 minutes before spreading your pesto on top.
To Caramelize the Onions: Heat a cast iron pan over high heat. Once hot, add olive oil and heat for about 5 minutes more. Add onion, and reduce heat to medium. Cook 20 minutes, stirring occasionally (about every 5 minutes), until your onion is translucent and beginning to brown and just barely burn. Remove from heat. Set aside.
For the Kale Pesto: In a blender (vitamix or nutri bullet preferably), combine kale, olive oil, miso, nutritional yeast, garlic, coconut meat, parsley and lemon juice. Blend on high until creamy (about 30 seconds in a nutribullet). Set aside.
For the Roasted Peaches Preheat oven to 400F. Spread peach slices out on a baking sheet. Add olive oil, and toss peaches to coat.Roast for 25-30 minutes -- your peaches should be just starting to caramelize. Remove and let cool 10 minutes before spreading over your flatbread.

Notes

Sub einkorn flour for spelt flour if you can't find einkorn.

Nutrition Information

Serving size: 2