Roasted Garlic

Our summer came a little late this year. We had an amazing June, July, and first half of August. But the humidity is out now and the air is thick. It makes for very inconsistent running. Because I can’t always pick and choose the days and times I run, I have to just suck it up and run. When its this hot out, I do have to take some precautions and plan accordingly. Here are my tips for running in the heat:

1. Choose routes with the most shade

2. Wear sunscreen and a visor

3. Keep runs to about 30 minutes. If running longer, make sure you take a water bottle with you

4. Have a cold water bottle ready for when you’re finished

When its this hot, I also don’t like turning on the oven. I do, however, make an exception when I run out of my roasted garlic. I make this stuff in batches because I’m not a fan of my fingers smelling like garlic anytime I want to add some flavor to my meals. Plus, I don’t have the time to go through all that chopping and mincing every time I cook. I first came across this recipe from Rachel Ray. I was working and B was watching some Rachel Ray. She was making Roasted Garlic Chicken. I roasted the garlic and he made the chicken, but I ended up loving the roasted garlic recipe and I only have to make it once every couple of months!

Roasted Garlic

Ingredients:

As many garlic heads as you’d like

olive oil

salt

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F

2. Cut off the tops of your heads of garlic

3. Wrap each head  in a square of aluminium foil and drizzle with a bit of olive oil. Salt if desired.

4. Place all of the garlic “pockets” in a pan or directly in the oven.

5. Bake in the oven for 45 minutes or until tender. Enjoy the smells!

6. When garlic is tender, take out of oven and let cool. Squeeze the garlic out of its skin.

7. Use a fork to mash the garlic into a paste.

8. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator and use when needed!

 

 

I love adding this to my sauteed veggies or into pasta sauces. It is also delicious just spread on some bread and drizzled with olive oil and warmed in the oven…

Enjoy!

F

Blue Cheese Stuffed Tomatoes

As I’ve mentioned before, the love of my life & I are members of our local CSA. Sometimes we’ll receive 10 ears of corn, and other times we’ll receive 20 heirloom tomatoes.

Well, this was one of those tomato times.

They were sitting on our counter in a brown paper bag trying to ripen and I was wondering what to do with them. I’ve always had this ‘romantic’ idea of cutting the top off of peppers or tomatoes and stuffing them with something.

Tonight was the night.

We had the cheese thanks to Costco, as well the bread crumbs and other spices.

Just to make sure I wasn’t completely off of my rocker, I borrowed heavily from Grill Grrrl to make them.

From experience I know my dear loves garlic and onions, so after scooping out the tomato ‘meat’ i threw in a layer of garlic & onion at the bottom of the tomato, then added blue cheese/gorgonzola, bread crumbs & basil to ‘taste’.

Since I have more basil than I know what to do with after baking for 20/30 min I added fresh basil diced to the top of these before serving.

INGREDIENTS
4 Tomatoes
1/4 cup blue cheese/gorgonzola
1/8 bread crumbs
1/8 garlic
1/6 diced onions
basil to taste

Tomato Hummus

tomato hummus

Hummus is a wonderful treat to have before a meal, during a meal spread on a sandwich or wrap, or after a meal while you’re watching a movie.  It’s an easy snack to have in the middle of a party and your guests can dip mixed veggies, pita, chips, etc into it.  Of course be careful for the double dippers.

I used to buy hummus all the time, but after figuring out how easy it is to make it on my own I love throwing a can of chick peas into the small food processor with the spices of my choice, letting it chill for 15 minutes and enjoying with the aforementioned snacks.

Tonight I was making blue cheese stuffed tomatoes, a recipe to be posted later.  After scooping out the insides of the tomatoes and replaces with most of the ‘meat’ of the tomato, I still had the tomato juice & seeds left over.  I combined those with a can of dried chickpeas, handful of onions, 1/2 clove of garlic, tumeric, paprika, cumin, basil & olive oil for a quick snack.

INGREDIENTS
1 16oz can Chick Peas
1 small handful diced white onion
1/2 clove garlic
1/4 – 1/2 cup tomato juice, seeds
1 Tbsp olive oil
fresh basil leaves, cumin, tumeric & paprika to taste

blend & chop in the food processor until it has a smooth paste texture.  Put in the refrigerator to chill.