Back to Basics: Roasting Garlic

Roasting garlic is one of the most effortless skills in the kitchen. In this recipe, I only used two heads but I would recommend roasting 6 or so at a time. Once you make this, it will become a staple in your household.  This simple technique can result outstanding flavor profiles.

Roasting garlic highlights the sweetness garlic has within. The caramelization that occurs makes it perfect for a variety of uses or magnificent on its own.  It keeps a week or so in the fridge. You can add it to:

• pizza
• sauces 
• spread it on bread
• hummus
• mix into salad dressing
• mashed potatoes
• soups
• compound butter
• mayo
• favorite dip

Roasted Garlic

Cook Time: 30-60 min      Prep Time: 2 min

• 2 heads garlic
• olive oil

Garlic wrapped in aluminum foil

Garlic bulb drizzled with olive oil

Directions

Preheat oven to 375F. Cut the tops off the heads of garlic. Enough to expose the cloves. Place in aluminum foil and drizzle with olive oil. Wrap in aluminum foil and place in oven. Cook approximately 30-60 minutes or until tender! Enjoy!

Finished garlic!

A spring sangria!

Sangria hails from Spain. It typically was created using red wine, fruit, and brandy. This punch was produced because water was not safe yet to drink. It originally had spices, red wine and possibly water.

Nowadays, sangria can have any variety of wine, juices, sweeteners, liquor and fruit. It's basically an adult fruit punch. Any variety you can think of is out there. Of course, you can buy it pre-made at the supermarket, but its not nearly as delicious as homemade. When you make it yourself, you can customize it to the sweetness and alcohol content to your liking.

For spring, I wanted to make a sangria that screamed SPRING. If you can't find pink lemons, regular will do just fine. This delightfully pink sangria looks gorgeous and taste amazing! You make need to make a couple of pitchers for company.

Rhubarb Sangria

Serves: 6-8      Cook Time: 15 min      Prep Time: 5 min

• 4 stalks rhubarb, cut in to 1/2" pieces
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup water
• 1 pint strawberries, sliced
• 1 bottle sparkling wine or presecco (either rose or white)
• 1 cup selzter water
• 1 pink lemon, sliced

Rhubarb, sugar and water

Simmering rhubarb

Straining out rhubarb to reveal pink simple syrup

Directions

Combine rhubarb sugar and water. Cook until tender. Strain out rhubarb and reserve syrup. Save the cooked rhubarb to top ice cream, use in a tart, or to eat with yogurt! Place syrup in fridge. When syrup is cold, place in pitcher. Add sparkling wine, strawberries, lemon slices and top off with water.

A beautiful sangria for any occasion!

12 ways to use fresh herbs

1. Sprinkle fresh herbs on veggies such as potatoes, mushrooms, peas, peppers, and broccoli
2. Make a flavorful pesto to use on sandwiches, add to hummus, in pasta or tossed with your favorite veggies.
3. Add to beverages such as lemonade, tea, cocktails or to flavor your water. Some of my favorites are mint with tea/water, and basil with lemonade.

Basil and mint make great additions to cocktails or iced tea!

4. Toss parsley, chives and/or cilantro into your salad.
5. Incorporate a mixture of herbs into your salad dressing. Give your dressing an extra kick of flavor and freshness for the spring. My favorite is a mixture of parsley, chives, and basil.

Chives are wonderful addition to compound butter!

6. Use them to make a delicious herbed compound butter.  This sauce can be used on fish, steak, chicken or lobster!
7. Add them to your omelet, scrambled eggs, quiche or frittata.
8. Use fresh herbs like parsley, basil and cilantro to garnish some of your favorite dishes!
9. Simmer stems or chop stems to use in sauces.  Basil stems are great simmered in a tomato sauce.  Use cilantro stems to make a pesto or flavorful dressing/marinade!
10. Use harder stems such as rosemary as skewers for grilling items such as scallops or shrimp.
11. Add herbs such as parsley, thyme, and tarragon to give your stock a boost of flavor!
12. Fry leaves for a flavorful and delicious garnish! This works great with sage and basil!

Add tarragon to your favorite sauce, such as hollandaise.

A B.V.I specialty cocktail!

The view on Tortolla

I recently went to the British Virgin Islands. The water was a brilliant turquoise and you could smell the salty ocean in the air. The mountainous region was covered in tropical plants and large cactus. The locals were always greeting you with a smile. In this wonderful paradise, the drinks were abundant and magnificent! One of the signature drinks of the B.V.I. was the painkiller. This drink lives up to its name! Its a lighter take on the popular Pina colada. The grated nutmeg may seem strange, but brings this drink to another level of flavor. The inventor of this drink is said to be the bartender at the Soggy Dollar Bar on Jose Van Dyke, but it is still debated. This was my favorite drink of choice while in the islands. If made with the local rum from Tortola, it can almost take you back to paradise. Take a trip to paradise and make this amazing drink!

BVI Specialty Rum

Ingredients for the cocktail

Painkiller

Serves: 1   Cook Time: 0 min      Prep Time: 2 min

• 3 oz. dark rum
• 3 oz. pineapple juice
• 1 oz oj
• 11/2 oz cream of coconut
• garnish with fresh nutmeg and pineapple wedge

Directions

Place all ingredients except for nutmeg and pineapple wedge in shaker with ice. Serve over ice and garnish with fresh grated nutmeg and pineapple. Enjoy!

Grated nutmeg is the final touch

A nutty smoothy!

Smoothies are my go to morning breakfast. They are loaded with fiber, vitamins, and minerals. Plus, they taste delicious too! It's a great way to sneak some veggies in as well. This smoothie is so scrumptious that it could be served as a dessert. Sometimes, I add cacao powder for an extra oxidant boost. If your allergic to peanuts, substitute cashew, almond, or walnut butter. To spice this drink up a bit add cinnamon, cardamom, or nutmeg.

Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie

Serves: 2   Cook Time: 0 min      Prep Time: 2 min

• 1 Cup Milk or Milk Substitute
• 1 large ripe Banana, cut into 2 inch pieces
• 2 Tablespoons Peanut Butter
• 1 Teaspoon Honey
• a handful of ice

Directions

Place all ingredients in blender and enjoy.

A healthy dip!

Hummus is a wonderful middle eastern dip to have in your fridge. Instead of buying those expensive and high in sodium pre made hummus, try making it yourself. It will save you some money and taste fabulous!

Hummus is not only easy and taste great, but its a great source of nutrients. It's highly nutritional due to a high source of fiber and protein.  Hummus is low in sodium, fat and calories. The veggies that you dip in it, give you an additional nutritional boost. Enjoy this snack and be guilt free.

It took me awhile to achieve a smooth hummus. I had made it multiple times before and couldn't perfect the texture. There were many techniques to increase it being smooth, but did I really wanna spend time removing all the skins from chickpeas or starting from dried beans? This is supposed to be a quick and easy snack. After many trials and recipe adjustments, I had found a wonderfully quick way to make a beautifully smooth hummus.

Hummus Ingredients

Hummus

All ingredients are in

• 1 15 oz. can Chickpeas or Garbanzo Beans, drained and liquid reserved

• 4 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil

• 1 Lemon, juiced and zested (zest optional)

• 2 Tablespoons Tahini (sesame seed paste)

• 1/4 Cup Chickpea Liquid

• 1 Teaspoon Ground Cumin

• 1 Clove Garlic

• Salt to taste

Directions

Place all ingredients except lemon zest in food processor or Vitamix. Make sure to stir your tahini. It is like the peanut butter of the middle east. It separates when it sits, so mix it up a bit. Blend until smooth. Add salt to taste and lemon zest to taste. Serve with cucumber, carrots, tomatoes, pita bread, or pita chips.

A delightful dip!

Some alternative uses for hummus include:

• middle eastern style seven layer dip
• middle eastern style pizza
• sandwich spread
• can be made in a light salad dressing
• serve with falafel

A colorful presentation!

A tropical granola!

Granola is a wonderful snack and easily adaptable to whatever maybe in your pantry. It's fabulous with milk or yogurt. This granola would taste delightful with some fresh pineapple or mangoes. It will bring your senses to the tropics. Right now in Ohio, we are not yet experiencing spring weather, but this granola will make your day much brighter and warmer.

Don't forget to make this granola your own. Use whatever nuts or dried fruit you have around the house. You may also switch out the sweetener for brown sugar, sugar or agave nectar if you like. For a richer, granola you may use butter in place of coconut oil.

For a nutrient kick, add flaxseeds, chia seeds or even some dried milk for a protein boost.

Tropical Flavors

Hawaiian Granola

Mixed Granola

Serves: 8-10   Cook Time: 35-40 min      Prep Time: 5 min

• 3 Cups Old Fashioned Oats
• 1 Cup Macademia Nut, roughly chopped
• 1/2 Cup Unsweetened Shredded Coconut
• 1 Egg White, slightly beaten
• 1/2 Cup Honey
• 1/4 Cup Melted Coconut Oil
• 1/2 Teaspoon Ground Cardamom
• 1 Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
• 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 1/2 Teaspoon Salt
• 1/4 Cup Crystallized Ginger, minced

Directions

Combine all ingredients except crystallized ginger. Bake at 325 degree F for 40 minutes or until golden brown and dried out. Stirring every 15-20 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool. Then add crystallized ginger and stir to combine.

Finished Granola