Roasted Garlic (and dinner idea)

Whenever we have roasted garlic with dinner, I always forget how long and at what temperature to roast it. So I thought I'd just post it here so I always know where to look.

How to Roast Garlic

1. Pre-heat oven to 400.

2. Peel off thin outer layers, but keep the cloves together.

3. Cut off the tips.

4. Drizzle top with olive oil and wrap in foil.

5. Roast for 30 to 35 minutes.

6. When it's cooled enough to touch, squeeze the garlic out of each clove.

Peel thin outer layers.

Cut tops off.

Drizzle with olive oil and wrap in foil.

***

Here's an idea of how to put the roasted garlic to use:

Noodles with Roasted Veggies

Pasta of your choice
Roasted Garlic
Roasted Zucchini (500 degrees for 10 to 15 minutes)
Roasted Tomatoes
Fresh basil

Cook noodles. Coat with olive oil. Add veggies and basil.

Make your own Pizza Crust

We've done our own homemade pizza for a long time now, but only recently started making our own crust. Sean found a recipe that truly is fast and easy. No kneading, no waiting.

The original recipe comes from allrecipes.com, but I'll repost it here in my own words.

Kale, white beans and caramelized onions

Quick and Easy Pizza Crust

1 (.25oz) package active dry yeast
1 tsp sugar
1 cup hot water (110 degrees)
2 1/2 cups bread flour*
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp olive oil
optional spices: garlic, basil, onion powder

* we use 1 cup whole wheat flour and 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Preheat oven to 450.

In a medium bowl, combine yeast, sugar and hot water. Let sit for 10 minutes.

Add flour, salt, olive oil and spices. Mix together and let sit for 5 minutes.

Ball up the dough and put it on a lightly floured surface to roll it out. Transfer to a greased baking sheet (if using a pizza stone, spread out some cornmeal and roll out dough directly on stone).

Add your sauce, toppings and cheese, and bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown. Let sit 5 minutes before serving.

How to cook delicious roasted veggies

A couple years ago, Sean and I watched a "how to" video on roasting vegetables (we were doing it wrong). It has vastly improved our veggie side dishes and some of our main dishes that have veggies in them. When they're roasted (correctly) they have such a great flavor. And it's super easy.

How to Roast Veggies

(the ones we roast on a regular basis are: broccoli, cauliflower, onion, red or green pepper, zucchini, and sometimes turnips and beets)

Chop everything into medium size chunks (not tiny, not huge) and all roughly the same size. Combine everything in a bowl and coat with oil and salt.

Line a baking sheet with foil and grease with cooking spray. Spread the veggies out in one single layer. Do not overcrowd or they will just steam instead of roast.

Bake at 500 for about 10 minutes. Wait until you see some edges getting blackened.

(just salt is fine, but other spices can certainly be added)

***

This adds a great side dish to almost any meal, but don't forget about roasting your veggies in some of your main dishes as well to add some flavor.

One of our favorites is to do some pasta in Alfredo sauce with roasted broccoli and red pepper. And sometimes we'll add some cut up sausages or small pieces of bacon.

Lunch Today: Butternut Squash Grits

I didn't have any lunch for the kids today, so Sean suggested baking the butternut squash we had and making squash grits (which we've made in the past as a side dish for dinner). So that's what we had...and they loved it - all 3 of them. The older two had 3 bowls each.

(recipe below)

***

Lately, butternut squash has gotten to be one of my favorite vegetables. It's so sweet and delicious. I often cook one to puree as baby food for Luke, and I find myself sneaking bites in between his.

In addition to making baby food out it or having it as a side dish with butter & brown sugar, we also make the above mentioned squash grits, butternut squash soup (I'll post the recipe next time we make it), and another one our kids love: Smack N' Cheese (basically noodles and cheese sauce with butternut squash mixed in...will also post that recipe at a later date).

As a side note, the raw inside of a butternut squash can cause a skin reaction - it does for me and I've read this can happen. I am careful not to touch it, using a fork to hold it if I need to peel it.

2 ways I cook a butternut squash

On the Stovetop:

1. Peel and chop the squash into large chunks (remove the seeds on the inside)
2. Boil in a large pot of water until squash becomes tender (about 20 to 30 minutes)
3. Drain water

In the Oven:

1. Cut the ends off and cut in half lengthwise, remove the seeds
2. Place face down in a glass baking dish
3. Add about a quarter inch of water
4. Bake at 400 for about an hour (give or take depending on size)

 

Butternut Squash Grits

3/4 cup quick grits

1 cup pureed butternut squash*

1/4 cup parmesan cheese 

1 to 2 tablespoons of butter

salt to taste

Cook and puree one small-to-medium butternut squash. Set aside.

Bring 3 cups of water to a boil. Stir in 3/4 cup quick grits. Reduce heat to medium-high and let cook 3 to 5 minutes, uncovered.

Stir butter, squash and parmesan cheese into the grits. Salt. Eat. Enjoy.

*try pureed sweet potato or pumpkin

Buy beans dry...not from a can

Since our family only eats meat occasionally throughout the week, we make sure we get our protein elsewhere. Mostly from black, white or pinto beans.

We seem to cook with them often: bean burgers, rice & beans, added to a soup, etc. We've even done them as pizza toppings. And since our picky daughter doesn't like them, sometimes we have to blend them up to hide them in our dinner (like in our potato & gnocchi soup last night..it simply thickened up the broth).

Okay, so I have no idea - by my guess would be that most people buy their beans in a can instead of dry beans in a bag. I could be wrong about that...but I do know that dry beans are a much cheaper way to go, and healthier since canned beans probably have added sodium and other preservatives (again, I could be wrong since I haven't checked their labels).

So here is all you need to do to make your beans on the stove:

The Super Easy Way

1. Boil water
2. Add beans and cook for about an hour to an hour and a half

The Slightly More Elaborate Way

1. Soak beans for 2 to 6 hours
2. Saute some onions in olive oil (this is optional, depending on what you're using the beans for)
3. Add the beans using the same water they were soaked in. Make sure they are covered with about 2 inches of water
4. Bring to a boil and leave on high heat for 10 minutes
5. Reduce to a simmer and cook for an hour to an hour and a half (keep an eye on the water level and add water as needed)
6. Add the salt when it's almost done cooking

These steps I saw in a video and the beans turn out really well this way. And it's still a very simple process.

Another way to add some flavor is to cook them in chicken broth instead of water.