Roasted Garlic

I am a garlic girl through and through! Roasted garlic is one of my favorite little things to make~ it can be used in a million different ways. I love adding roasted garlic to pastas and salad dressings. It's also great as a spread by itself (you can put it right out on the table with a fork; your guests can simply dip or added to butter to make a delicious compound butter). Roasted garlic is fragrant and smooth, yet lacking the bite of raw garlic. Once you try it, you will definitely be hooked; it's just too easy to pass up!
Yields: Approximately 3-4 tbsp.

Ingredients:
Kosher salt/black pepper
Olive oil
Garlic

Assembly:
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Cut the top off of the garlic head, place it on a sheet of tinfoil and drizzle generously with oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, then seal the foil by bunching up the top. Bake 30-45 minutes. To remove the cloves, allow to cool, then flip the head and squeeze it over a bowl.

Creamy Garlic Dip

Over the weekend, I served this creamy garlic dip at a friend's baby shower. Creamy and full of garlic, this dip pairs well with veggies, toasted pita chips or even as dressing on a sandwich or salad. You can adjust the amount of garlic easily, and it just keeps getting more delicious as it sits in the refrigerator. This recipe also has few ingredients and is painless to make!
Servings: 1 1/2 cups

Ingredients:
1 8oz. brick of softened cream cheese
3 large cloves of garlic
salt, black pepper
1 1/2 cups sour cream

Assembly:
Place all ingredients in a mini food processor (you can also mix this by hand if you mince the garlic really well) and pulse until combined. Add heavy cream or milk to thin the dip if necessary. Chill for at least 24 hours prior to serving.

Simply Sauteed Spinach

My husband has never been a fan of spinach until I prepared it in my absolute favorite way for him as a side dish to accompany risotto. In my humble opinion, fresh spinach is the only way to go. Lightly sauteed with a quick dressing of lemon juice and oil, this recipe will convince even the most dedicated spinach-haters to eat every last bite! Just a word of advice before you read the recipe: use more spinach than you think you will need. It wilts into much smaller portions!

Serves 2

Ingredients:
4 large handfuls of fresh baby spinach (about 3 cups or so)
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 lemon wedge
Kosher salt
black pepper
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 small pinch of nutmeg (optional)

Assembly:
Saute garlic and spinach in olive oil over medium heat until spinach wilts (you will need to toss the mixture so that the garlic does not burn). Squeeze lemon wedge over spinach and add salt/pepper to taste. Add nutmeg and toss.

Alternative preparation:
If you're not really fond of a strong garlic flavor, you can slice the garlic and saute it, then remove it from the pan before adding the spinach. This way your spinach will have a wonderful hint of garlic without you biting into any small pieces.

Spicy Garlic Noodles

I absolutely love the flavor of these yummy noodles! They are so easy to make, and you can find all the necessary ingredients in most grocery stores (you can always visit an Asian specialty store for lower prices and better selection). I usually serve this as a side dish, but you can throw in a protein like chicken or shrimp to transform it into an entree. You can also easily adjust the heat by adding more or less sri cha. Delicious!
Ingredients:
2 bunches Vietnamese rice noodles (cellophane noodles work too)
1 tbsp. sri cha
2 tbsp. rice vinegar
3 tbsp. soy sauce
3 green onions, chopped
6 cups of hot water
drizzle of sesame oil
1 tbsp. vegetable oil

Assembly:
In a medium bowl, soak noodles in hot water for five minutes or until softened. Dry them thoroughly on a paper towel. Heat vegetable oil in a wok or frying pan over medium-high heat. Add noodles, soy sauce, rice vinegar, sri cha and sesame oil and fry until noodles darken (2-3 minutes). Toss with green onions and serve.

Garlic-Mozzarella Bread

Garlic bread is such a delicious addition to any Italian dinner. Adding some fresh mozzarella on top makes it extra special! It's simple, quick and only requires a few ingredients to make. I usually serve it with homemade ravioli (search in the sidebar for my recipe), lasagna or arrabiatta. You can even add some homemade (or even store bought) tomato sauce to make it a quick and easy pizza bread.
Ingredients:
1 loaf of French or Italian Bread, sliced lengthwise
3-4 garlic cloves
olive oil or 1/3 stick softened butter
6-8 slices whole mozzarella
1 tbsp. garlic powder

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Drizzle olive oil (or spread butter) on bread. Bake for 5 minutes until it begins to crisp. Remove from oven and rub garlic cloves over the top of the warm bread. Sprinkle garlic powder on bread and add mozzarella slices. Return to oven for another 5-10 minutes or until cheese is bubbly. Serve warm.

Creamy Garlic Dressing

The other day I ran out of the spring mix lettuce I regularly use to make our dinner salads. I managed to find a head of iceberg in the drawer and decided to make a quick salad using this refreshing, crisp lettuce instead. Unfortunately, my honey-dijon balsamic vinaigrette doesn't work particularly well with iceberg lettuce. I've found that iceberg lettuce begs for a more substantial dressing like a french or ranch. I decided to make homemade creamy garlic dressing and top the salad with green onions and mushrooms. It was creamy and garlicky against the snap of the lettuce. Best of all, it was made with ingredients that I always have on hand in the house. My husband and biggest food critic approved!

Ingredients:
3 cloves of finely minced garlic (use the salting method in my earlier post to make sure you don't get big bites of garlic)
1 tsp. lemon juice
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup sour cream
2 tbsp. milk (to thin the dressing)
salt

Assembly:
Whisk ingredients together and pour over salad. It's that simple!
pepper

Technique Tuesdays-Mincing Garlic

I thought it might be a good idea to start a weekly post on different cooking and baking techniques. Every Tuesday I plan to post on a different technique that has really helped me make my dishes tastier and easier to execute. Please let me know what you think or if there is anything you would like me to address in upcoming posts.

Here goes the first post!!

A Tip on Mincing Garlic...

When mincing garlic or anything that you want to be super small so that the taste is infused but you're not getting a bite of it on your fork, try using a pinch of salt and dragging the flat part of your knife across the garlic and salt in between mincing to crush the garlic. Because the salt acts as an abrasive, you end up with a nice garlic paste. Remember to keep the tip of your knife down on the cutting board when mincing; it'll help you keep all your fingers intact!


I typically use this technique when adding garlic to dips, guacamole, and quick sauces.