garlic

Along the lines of great sauces, here's a recipe I cooked up just Monday night to serve with the bread for Paul's birthday dinner.

Choosing a good cheese is the key in keeping only three ingredients in this dip. The Parm-Reg yielded a saltier dip. Otherwise, I suspect certain diners would have sprinkled the bread with salt. A Pecorino-Romano would also fit the bill with its strong, more peppery flavor. Perhaps I'll try that next time. Remember, the dip recipe itself is gluten-free, but obviously, you would need a gluten-free bread for the entire experience to comply.

I can't vouch for the cost of this dip. The olive oil was what Paul selected during a taste test at Trader Joe's. I chose a good, strong, purple garlic clove that was far from on sale. And of course, a whole block of fresh imported cheese isn't cheap, even at Costco. Er, especially at Costco? Anyway, cost aside, this dip was very good and the leftovers kept well for a couple days in the fridge.

Recipe for Olive Oil Dip

• 1/2 cup quality olive oil
• 1 very large clove fresh garlic, minced
• 1/8 cup fresh Parmesan-Reggiano, finely shredded

Combine ingredients in order. Serve in individual containers as shown above or in a lovely bowl to be passed around the table.

Recommended serving suggestion: rosemary olive oil bread.

We had a ton of eggs nearing their expiration date, and I happily decided it was time to make another frittata. I actually can't remember the last time I did so, even though we have a lot of vegetable scrambled eggs for breakfasts. I searched my cookbooks and found a simple recipe in Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home. It's called light because the recipe allows for egg whites instead of whole eggs. I used three or four whole eggs instead of the egg whites. I loved how the broccoli cooked just above the pool of egg so that it was crispy/crunchy. Bird's Eye Baby Broccoli Florets kept me from spending extra time cutting. The fresh basil from our herb garden also made the frittata a hit. My only complaint would be I had to use a burner on the stove and turn on the oven for the final baking.

Super fast and easy and super cheap, I'll happily make this again and expound on it based on what veggies are in the fridge.

Cost to Make Broccoli Fritatta

• Broccoli (Publix)
• $0.65 Eggs (Publix)
• $0.03 Garlic (Maitland Farmer's Market)
• $0.40 Onion (Publix)
• $0.04 Olive Oil (Publix)
• $1.00 Cheese (Publix)
• Free Basil (Our Herb Garden)
• $3.02 Total feeds 2

Cost Per Person $1.51

We're very lucky. Dinner was rushed the night I made this veggie strudel because I had a date with Whole Foods. I thought I had missed the opportunity to photograph my finished product, but my darling husband surprised me just this morning with a photo of the finished product. It may not be perfect, but I'm glad to at least have something considering we were so rushed.

I created this recipe in my head because I thought it would be speedy to prepare, and still (hopefully) look like I slaved all day. I want our meals to look high quality even though our 3-month-old (Can you believe it?) doesn't allow me to spend too long in the kitchen. I thought the strudel came out just as I expected, and I happily allowed Paul to clean up the few dishes.

Recipe for Vegetable Strudel

• 1 Pepperidge Farms Puff Pastry Sheet
• 1 carrot, pealed and cut un thirds
• 1/2 bell pepper
• 1/2 small onion
• 1 cup broccoli florets
• 5 slices Jarlsberg or other mild Cheese
• 1/4 cup fresh parsley

Preheat oven. Wash and peel necessary veggies. Place all ingredients in food processor. Chop thoroughly until veggies are mixed. Open puff pastry onto baking pan. (I line mine with a silicone baking sheet.) Place packed mixture on lengthwise on half puff pastry. Top with slices of cheese. Fold puff pastry over top. Press edges together with tines of a fork to seal. Bake according to package directions. Serves 2.

Super simple and amazingly yummy, naturally this recipe is from Moosewood Simple Suppers. The gravy is flour, garlic, and vegetable broth. The broth is a great way to add lots of flavor when you don't have a large selection of seasonings in your cabinet. The vegetables can be served different ways, but it worked so well over some already cooked quinoa that didn't have an assignment yet. I love how it resembles a nice Asian stir-fry, but has the surprising differences of alternative vegetables (No broccoli or snow peas, although I know they would taste just as good here.) and a broth instead of soy sauce.

If you have a few extra leftover asparagus stems, it doesn't take much to add great flavor and color to this dish. I recommend buying the thinnest stems you can find. It's a time-saver to not have to halve them lengthwise. The hardest and longest part of the process for me was opening up the shelled edamame because I didn't have unshelled frozen edamame. Not exceptionally difficult, just time consuming.

Cost to Make Veggie Saute

• $0.50 Quinoa (Costco)
• $0.07 Carrots (Aldi)
• $0.90 Edamame (Costco)
• $0.57 Onion (Publix)
• $0.29 Asparagus (Publix)
• $0.02 Garlic (Maitland Farmer's Market)$0.82 Broth (Essential Health Market
• $2.35 Total for two

Cost Per Person $1.18

The photo is not of the potatoes I made last week. It's from the sour cream potatoes I made some time ago. However, the size of the aluminum pan is the same, which is why I chose to share the photo with this story.

The father of a friend passed away two Saturdays ago. The first thing last Monday morning, I was in the kitchen making rosemary garlic mashed potatoes (See here for pictures and link to recipe.) to take over to his mother's house. I chose the potatoes because I figured if there was an excess of food, they could be frozen well and could easily be made into hash browns for breakfast. Again, these stories aren't meant to brag. I'm simply sharing how easy and cheap it is to share with someone less fortunate. Just to prove it, I'll share how much it cost for me to fill that 3 qt. casserole dish with delicious mashed potatoes and the joy in my heart to see the smile on the family's face when I delivered it.

Confession: Given the choice between a decision that's healthy or a decision that's cheap, I'd prefer to go for the decision that's cheap. And there are times when I make unhealthy choices because I want to splurge and am happy it's cheap, like when I got Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream for $0.90 a carton. This recipe came about because I was being cheap. And luckily it's healthier, too.

See, we don't eat a lot of fried foods. I ate enough french fries when I was a kid and okra isn't in season yet. So when I decided to make eggrolls or cabbage rolls, I felt it would be a very expensive undertaking to fry them in so much oil when I wouldn't reuse the oil. It would go to waste! I did some research on what temperature other people recommended baking eggrolls on, and I gave baking a shot. I was so happy with the results that I served them to my parents and grandmother the next night.

Recipe for Baked Eggrolls

• 6 Eggroll wrappers
• 2 cups very thinly cut cabbage
• 2 small carrots, julienned
• 1/2 cup onion, sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 pice Frichik, diced (optional)
• 1 teaspoon each, garlic and onion powder
• 3 Tablespoons or less olive oil, divided
• 1 cup brown rice, cooked

I've learned in my travels that different people may use different amounts of oil for the same tasks. At most, I would use 3 Tablespoons. Hopefully, we would all use less.

Put cabbage, carrots, garlic, and optional veggie meat in a bowl. Stir-fry onions in 1 Tablespoon or less olive oil. Add vegetables and seasoning. Stir fry the vegetables down.

Pull out eggroll wrappers and lay on plate at an angle. Dish large spoonful into wrapper. Fold the corner closest to you up. Wet remaining sides with dash of water. Fold corners on sides in and corner farthest from you toward you. Brush with remaining olive oil and lay seems down on jelly roll pan or cookie sheet. Bake on 425' for 15 minutes, turning halfway through. Serve over rice.

My preferred sauce recipe is taken from Moosewood Restaurants Cooks at Home--lime, ketchup and soy sauce. Since I didn't have lime, I mixed 1/2 tablespoon tahini in 3 tablespoons soy sauce. It does have a strong flavor, but I think it works.

I was reading up on the qualities of spinach in The Full Plate Diet, when I learned that the term "a la Florentine" came from Catherine de Medici's love for spinach. This may not mean much to most people, but it hit a cool note with me as my brother- and sister-in-law met at an old Medici Villa, that has been turned into a college, where they both worked.

And that inspired me to use the leftover quinoa and braised spinach to make an Italian version. Sadly, I was in a hurry as we only had an hour before an appointment at some friends' house, and I forgot the tomatoes. Plus, I would have loved to add pine nuts, but we're out. Paul saw nothing much connecting the dish to Italian dining except for the parmesan cheese topping. That was a mistake on my part. However, I stand by my original idea and claim with the additions it would have been a better presentation. Either way, I thought it tasted just yummy.

Below is the recipe as I would have made it with more time and more supplies.

Quinoa a la Florentine

• 2 cups cooked quinoa
• 1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
• 1 large garlic clove, minced
• 1/2 cup onion, sliced
• 1 pound fresh spinach, rinsed
• 1/8 cup Parmesan Cheese, finely shredded
• 1/3 cup pine nuts, chopped and toasted
• 2 Campari Tomatoes, quartered

Sautee onions until soft in 1 teaspoon olive oil then add garlic to cook briefly. (Don't let the garlic brown.) Add the broth and allow to heat up. Add spinach and cook until just wilted. Serve spinach over quinoa topped with pine nuts and parmesan. Garnish on four sides with tomatoes.

Last week, a reporter from iReport at CNN wrote with a "Weekend Assignment" story request for a video of a signature dish. Eggplant Bruschetta is one of my classic dishes, and today Paul and I visited the same stall at the Maitland Farmer's Market where we picked up our first eggplant. You can check out the video of making Baked Eggplant Bruschetta and learn the recipe at ireport.com.

Cost Per Person $3.12

Three of the magazines I subscribe to: Parenting The Early Years, Parents, and Bon Appetit, had falafel recipes in their March 2010 issues. (Sorry, only Bon Appetit seems to have their recipe on line.) Is this some special month or just falafel screams "SPRING!"? Either way, the stories brought back great memories of our research of "The Best Falafel in the World" when we were a couple weeks away from a trip to Paris last year. The difference being, we are in Sunny Florida and no where near the Stravinsky Fountain. I knew I just had to give one of the recipes a shot.

After a little comparison, I chose the Parents recipe, and was quite happy with it. Just for kicks, I may try the others. . .or I may track down someone who has a secret ingredient that will make it out of this world.

At least one of us is back from New York City, and I had a blast. (Paul comes home late tomorrow.) I can't wait to share all the photos and reviews of some really good food. Although, I'm sorry to say sometimes we only had two meals in the day because we were so busy being tourists.

When I got back, I got really nervous cause my fridge was completely empty. I had to make a trip to Publix for some basics like fruit, cereal, and milk to survive tomorrow. My plan for the remainder of the week is to eat what we have in the pantry and freezer because I still want to clean out and restock after the first of the year. Two meal ideas: Wild Rice, Brussel Sprouts (Me) or Peas (Paul), and Butternut Squash; and Pasta in a Garlic-Almond sauce (similar to Gourmet Mag, only the almonds in the pantry are already cooked. I don't foresee it being a problem and will be creative necessary.

We only ate one spaghetti squash this year. Somehow, it didn't seem like a top priority with all the butternut squash around. Not to mention, cooking squash can be more time-consuming and my feet don't enjoy long stretches of use.

I got the idea for this recipe from a friend of my parents last year. What I appreciated was how simple it was to cook, plus with the simple seasoning, the leftovers had a variety of uses. In our case, we made spaghetti squash primavera. Basically, that's seasoned vegetables and sauce served over the squash instead of pasta. It makes a great gluten-free vegetable dish with lots of nutrients.

Cooking a Spaghetti Squash

Stab a few holes in the squash and microwave for 60 seconds to soften skin. Cut squash in half from stem to base. Seed the squash. Place face-down in a microwave-safe dish, add 1 inch of water, and cover with a dish towel. Microwave for about 8 minutes, depending on the size of the squash and the power of the microwave.

Let the squash cool upon removal from the microwave because it will burn your hands. Turn the squash over and scrape the inside out with a fork and scoop into an oven-safe bowl. The "strings" resemble spaghetti--hence the name.

In the bowl with the squash, sprinkle 2 cloves minced garlic, 1 tsp. sea salt (or more to taste), 2 Tab. unsalted butter (or margarine of choice), and 1 Tab. dried parsley. I only needed to "bake" my squash in the oven just after I turned it off from the 400 degrees it was heated at to cook muffins. You can cook the squash at about 350 until the garlic is cooked and the edges of the squash brown, which is great for color.

For the primavera, I cooked fresh and frozen veggies (like julienned carrots, sliced onions, broccoli florets, and bell pepper sticks) in oil and added the leftover spaghetti squash to cook through.

Click on the photograph to go to Paul's Flickr page for a closer-up view of the monkeys. There's nothing like sitting in a boat having a picnic lunch and watching the monkeys watch you and wonder how they can get across the river to partake, too. We had quite a show. One of the best times was when a piroux came by with a dog and three adults. The dog watched us 'til he saw the monkeys. He got in really big trouble for barking and scaring them. Thanks, Connie and Jack for a great day!

This was a positively amazing salad that really is simple to make, and just as important to serve. Paul's Aunt Marsha is the angel behind this heavenly healthy creation. The greatest accent is that each vegetable is roasted separately but served together, which is good for picky eaters and highlights the great colors of the individual vegetables. Each vegetable is cooked the same way and are combined at the end. Brilliantly, this salad fabulous served hot, warm, or even at room temp, which means it can be made ahead. This was important as the dinner Marsha served was a large buffet for about 15 people. With that much work, a vegetable that can be room temp balances between a cold salad and a hot entree--and that doesn't hog the oven--is perfect. Roasted fresh beets yield a purple dressing that again keeps this dish as natural and simple as possible.

I hope my memory of the recipe is the way Marsha does it by her memory!

Roasted Vegetable Salad

From watching Marsha Bloom

• Select equal portions of fresh sweet potatoes, brussel sprouts, and beets.
• Cut the brussel sprouts in half, peel the potatoes and cut into bite-sized pieces, cut beets as well.
• Place top rack in oven just above center and the second rack a notch or two below for space to get a second pan in and preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• Grease jelly roll pans with a light coat of spray. (Marsha had only two pans, and cooked the brussel sprouts first. Again, this is the beauty of a vegetable for a large group that doesn't have to be served hot.)
• Spread each vegetable individually and evenly over pan.
• Sprinkle olive oil semi-generously (although excess will not hurt) over the vegetable.
• Sprinkle fresh ground black pepper and salt evenly over vegetables.
• Top with three cloves each pan of chopped fresh garlic.
• Chop fresh rosemary (about 3 long sprigs per pan) and sprinkle around pan.
• Place pans in oven until bottom of vegetables are golden brown. The time varies depending on the veggie.
• Serve divided, but in the same bowl.

Right next to Trader Joe's is a Great Harvest Bread Company that Leann introduced us to.This little shop has such a variety of bread that it has to follow a schedule to produce the different loaves on different days. When I walked in, they offered us a taste of three or four options. One looked more like a pan of brownies than bread. Having a sweet tooth, I would have been very happy to go for the brownie, but in effort to experience the new and to give a true opinion of the selection, I decided to try a slice of garlic cheddar. The slice was soft and white with complete, but not strong, flavor of cheddar and garlic bits. I was very impressed with my taste test. Leann bought a loaf of cinnamon bread, which has the same idea of a good quality bread recipe bits of flavoring stirred in at regular intervals. Leann and I had the same idea that the loaf of bread is done as soon as you open it. So, you just can't open it. You just have to sit and watch it on the counter while it's calling your name.

Gourmet's April 2009 Magazine had this fabulous recipe, and they've even made it available online. When I first read it, I was intrigued by the recipe and curious to know how it would work. I'm always looking for ways to get extra heart-healthy nuts in our diet. Making this recipe for dinner actually turned out to be a very economical move on my part. Paul's aunts gave us raw almonds from Trader Joe's at Christmas. We also got Trader Joe's pasta as an Easter present. Garrett Nudd left the garlic a few weeks back when he was making concoctions in our kitchen. So, much of the ingredients for this recipe were free to us.

I found the recipe for Johnny Garlic's rosemary mashed potatoes on Food N

Roissy is basically where Charles de Gaulle Airport is in Paris, France. We got done saying good-bye to the group late and there were only three restaurants open in the city (not including the hotel dining rooms.) The only option was an Asian restaurant; so, we walked into the largest restaurant we had seen during our trip around Paris and northern France. But, even by the time we left there were only four tables filled.

Today, National Public Radio's Weekend Edition Sunday announced the winner of its garlic recipe contest. Two of the three finalists were fish recipes. The final recipe was for a hot sauce. Although the chefs and journalist reviewing the sauce ate it with chicken, the actual sauce is vegetarian! The chicken was not part of the sauce. In fact, the hostess on the radio this morning ate the sauce with a chip. Congratulations to William Maxwell of Vandalia, Missouri, for submitting the winning concoction!

For the actual recipe and to see a video review of the three finalists, visit this link on NPR. The video review even had recommendations for vegetarians. For example, potatoes absorb a lot of flavor. Always remember to compensate for that.

I had a zucchini that was looking bad and some tomatoes the might not have much of a future; so, I put my thinking-cap on and came up with a pasta dish because most of the time we feel like you can't go wrong with zucchini and pasta. I pulled out a box of my "Buy One, Get One free Pasta" from Publix and started boiling some water. Meanwhile, I sauteed onion in 1/2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, adding the zucchini pretty quickly, and topping with garlic. When those three ingredients were cooked to my liking, I added diced fresh tomatoes, which I love using because it makes its own sauce.

We are always happy to open our home to friends. Mike performed our wedding ceremony, and Paul has known Ashley most of their lives.

I sat up in bed sometime in the middle of the night and realized yesterday had not gone smoothly enough for me to be near a computer other than at work. So, bright and early this morning, I am making up for my lack of desire to get out of a nice warm bed on one of the coldest nights of the year in Florida and share my thoughts.

In honor of the Chinese New Year, I served Chinese food for dinner last night. I really like Chinese food. I love the sauces and particularly am a fan of egg rolls even though I try to stay away from fried foods. I like making Chinese food with rice, but when I have an excess of spaghetti or egg noodles, this is a great way to use them without having pasta in marinara or alfredo sauce for a week.

Recipe to Make Stir Fry

• 2 large toes garlic, coarsly chopped
• 1/2 large onion, thinly sliced
• 1 medium Carrot, julienned
• 1 cup frozen broccoli
• 2 oz. De Boles (organic) spaghetti style pasta (only because that is what was opened)
• 1/4-1/2 cup sugar snap peas
• 1/8 (or less) teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 6 Tablespoons Pad Thai Sauce from Moosewood Cooks at Home
• Olive oil to cover bottom of a skillet

Boil pasta according to pasta directions. I do not salt the pasta because there is so much salt in the soy sauce. Meanwhile, cover a large skillet with oil. Turn the skillet on medium and add the onions. Microwave broccoli and sugar snap peas 1:30 minutes to defrost. Add carrots and garlic to the onions when they are softened. Add broccoli and peas until warm. Drain pasta and add it to the vegetables. Pour the Moosewood recipe mixture (lime, ketchup, and soy sauce) over the vegetables and pasta. Stir in sauce and two pinches fresh crushed red pepper. Serve hot.

Cost Per Person $1.75

When so many fresh ingredients are at your fingertips (especially during the winter time) it makes so much since to create a fantastic sandwich that mixes them all together. I enjoyed this so much because it was a fast creation and the flavors were fantastic.

Paul declared this creation great. He especially liked the crust. I really enjoy the flatbread as well. I just happened upon some Naan hand-stretched flatbread at Costco. I love making sandwiches out of it or serving it instead of French bread alongside pasta. I think it looks and tastes fabulous.

Paul said this was the best risotto he ever had. He actually isn't much of a fan of risotto, but quite enjoyed this. I think this is my second favorite risotto ever; my favorite being in a quaint spot in Italy many years ago. You just can't beat the surroundings! But for home products, this is the best and most successful. And I have experimented a few times, which goes to prove not everyone becomes a cook overnight.

The recipes I checked out had many different seasonings to add. I passed on those. Aside from the long cook time, this is very easy.

Paul bought me a new cook book that recommended some strudel recipes as show-stoppers. I didn't have the ingredients, but I used what I had on hand and was so excited with the results. I had a few extra pastry sheets and choose to make the Vegeburger Bites, which I have written about before. The purpose for using all the pastry sheets was to clean out the freezer. They are expensive; so I try to buy them from the Pepperidge Farm Thrift Store. I love using them because they taste like I've slaved all day!

I was so proud when I created this recipe. Because our wedding was mostly pink, I had wanted a "pink" pasta sauce. I wish now I had made this creation, then. This sauce was absolutely perfect. I think this recipe is a more elegant alternative to spaghetti sauce, but is healthier than straight fettucini sauce. Also, the mixture makes it great with vegetables. Paul told me to remember how I made it. I hope I always do.

The tubular pasta is a favorite of Paul's called Rigatoni. Because it's larger and hollow, you eat less than you think you do because there is so much air.

This post's guest photographer is Garrett Nudd, an excellent and talented photographer, but an even better friend.

I came across some mini-kabob sticks while in Sarasota for our anniversary. Ever since, I was very excited to make some and did a good bit of research before I finally put the meal together. I served the kabob with steamed brown rice and the Pad Thai sauce from "Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home."

This meal was much easier than I expected, and except for the delay of threading the sticks with my designer-husband, a fast creation as well. I did find a note somewhere in my research to soak the sticks in water before use to prevent splitting. This was my first step of the meal.

This meal was absolutely fun to make. I assure you, a solid vegetable meal like this can be cheap and fabulous. The asparagus and sweet potatoes came from Aldi, a rather unusual but wise grocery store, which is known for very reasonable prices on off-brand foods. A good number have recently opened up in Orlando. My experiences there in America and out of the country have been pleasant.

When asked what he wanted for lunch Garrett (Nudd of Garret Nudd Photography) said something about cheeseless pizza. I told him I try to have pizza once a week because it is healthy, often well balanced, and can be fast when we are on the run. He asked how long it had been since we had pizza. I estimated two weeks. He gave me a big smile.