‘Garlic’ Articles at Sweetnicks

Recipe: Roasted Garlic Mayonnaise {Whole30}

January 10, 2020 · Narrative

The smell is heavenly, the taste is light, let’s make some Roasted Garlic Mayo!

You likely have heard me extol the virtues of homemade mayonnaise before … it’s so light and lemony and downright delicious that after the first time I made it, I never had store-bought again. Plus it’s so much healthier! Since you’re making it yourself, you KNOW the ingredients that are going in it, and it’s clean eating at its finest, and Whole30 and Paleo to boot. Now we’re “kicking it up a notch,” as Emeril used to say (is he still around and cooking?), with this divine Roasted Garlic Mayo.

First let’s talk about the health benefits of roasted garlic all on its own … to name a few, it’s nutritious, has been shown to reduce blood pressure, it can reduce the length of the common cold, lowers the risk of heart disease, and improves bone health (and so much more!).

Oftentimes, if the oven is going to be on for half an hour, I’ll pop in a bulb of garlic to roast, squeeze out the roasted cloves and keep it in a container in the fridge so I always have some on hand (put in small container and cover with olive oil and they’ll be preserved for about two weeks). You can spread some with butter or ghee on a toasted baguette, add to a veggie stir fry, and pop into the mayo recipe below. I also sometimes it eat just straight up! I used to frequest a restaurant (and even got engaged there!) called The Garlic Rose. Garlic was, as you can imagine, infused in some way into every dish they served and it was as amazing as it sounds. What YOUR favorite way to use roasted garlic?

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Recipe: Roasted Lemon Garlic Broccoli

August 4, 2014 · Narrative

A super simple, quick way to serve roasted broccoli … lemon, garlic, and done.

Broccoli is one of the few vegetables that we can all agree on. The kids would happily eat roasted broccoli every day, but while I love it that way, I need a little more variety in my life.

Which today comes by way of garlic and lemon juice.

You can’t go wrong by roasting any vegetable. The process is simple and really lets the natural flavors of the vegetable come alive. A little drizzle of olive oil, salt, and pepper and you have the perfect side dish for pretty much any main course.

This recipe takes the basic premise of roasted vegetables and just bumps it up a notch with the addition of the garlic and lemon juice. Still simple. Still lets the broccoli be the star of the show. Still approved by everyone in the family. The lemon juice was perfect, giving the finished dish that little extra zing.

It’s an ideal side dish that doesn’t over-complicate anything. Vegetables in their purest form, naked and delicious.

And, thankfully, this is just different enough to keep us out of that roasted broccoli, roasted broccoli, roasted broccoli rut ~~we’re~~ I’m trying to avoid.

Now what to serve it with?
This Lemony Grilled Chicken from Debbie Matenopoulous would be perfect with it.
And you can’t find a quicker-to-make entree than this Best Ever Five Minute Grilled Salmon dish, and it’s one of my favorite go-tos.

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Recipe: Pesto and Garlic-Studded Crescent Rolls

December 10, 2012 · Narrative

I think garlic might be my love language.

Well, let’s be clear. It’s not my only love language. Sunrises. Sunsets. Heart-shaped things appearing magically somewhere unexpected. Someone cooking for me. Little colored drawings from Madeline. Seeing Nick treat others with kindness.

Those are all bits and pieces of my love language as well.

But garlic? Man oh man, that’s definitely on the list.

On the kids’ list too, but only if they can’t see it.

Last week, when we grabbed some pizza after checking out an art exhibit, I watched as the kids carefully picked off bits of garlic on their pizza.

First they said they didn’t like garlic.

As if.

But then I explained how it’s been in, oh, the last 163 things I might have cooked.

So then Nick went on to clarify that recently, he had something at a relative’s house, and there was this HUGER THAN JUPITER piece of garlic on his dish and he just couldn’t.

So it’s only the big pieces that he doth protest.

Which means he’s all over these little bits of garlic deliciousness.

And inhaled three as soon as they came out of the oven.

Bread is that little thing you need on the table to round out everything and make it just about perfect. And well, including garlic is just about a home run.

If you ask me.

If garlic happens to be YOUR love language, it just might be your lucky day. Bake up a batch of these babies and you’ll be whistling dixie in no time.

You’re welcome.

Really.

Tomorrow? Christmas Lists and Santa visits!
Wednesday? A review on a new grilled cheese restaurant!
Thursday? A new recipe for Gazpacho Salad!
Friday? A review on a new art exhibit!

I always love seeing the behind-the-scenes peeks at how photographs get set up. Here’s a look at how I got the first shot above:

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Summerfest 2010: Double Dose of Garlic

September 7, 2010 · Narrative

As I smelled the sweet smell of garlic permeating the house, today was one of those days where the planets perfectly aligned. Because it was the kids’ first day of school, I wanted to make a dinner that I knew they’d like. But first, a flashback to last week. I was making a dish and it called for a can of black beans. Nick saw me in the kitchen with them, and asked for a bite. I told him that they were from the can, and not what he thought they were. He shook his head, not caring and grabbed a spoon.

Minutes later … “yuck!” “I told you,” I said. “They’re not the same as the Cuban Black Beans you like.”

He was disappointed, I knew, so I made a mental note to make him the beans he liked for dinner on his first day of school. Although it was one of The Ex’s specialties, I have a tried-and-true recipe that is just as good as his. But what to serve with it? The Ex also makes a wonderful roast pork, something I haven’t attempted to make on my own since he moved out. I happened to find a simple recipe in a recent issue of Maxim magazine, of all places, and by noon, the house smelled insanely delicious, with both the roast pork and black beans doing their thing.

Both recipes called for garlic, so that was the overriding scent of the day, with a flash of my fingers reminding me of what was cooking in the oven and the slow cooker. And this week’s ingredient for Summerfest 2010? Garlic!

As soon as Nick walked in the front door this afternoon, he made a beeline for the kitchen, knowing exactly what smelled so good. It was all he could do to wait for dinner. And the roast pork? Wicked good. For just a few minutes of prep work, you are rewarded with insanely tender meat, full of flavor from the herbs, garlic and wine. Make it. Even if the recipe came from Maxim.

And now for more garlic goodness from my fellow Summerfesters…

Todd and Diane at White on Rice Couple: Garlic Knots

Nicole at Pinch My Salt: Spicy Pickled Garlic

Sara at Food2: Easiest Recipes Ever, Starring Garlic

Michelle on Cooking Channel: Roasted Garlic

Liz at Healthy Eats: 5 Reasons to Eat More Garlic

Kirsten at FN Dish: Garlic Chicken Greats

Margaret at A Way to Garden: Growing and Storing a Year of Garlic

Caroline at the Wright Recipes: Ajo Blanco Soup, and Confit Garlic

The Gilded Fork: Garlic Dossier and Recipes

Food Network UK: Glorious Garlic

Alana at Eating from the Group Up: Pickled Garlic

Caron at San Diego Foodstuff: Italian Marinated Eggplant and Sorrel and Garlic Sauce

Paige at The Sister Project: Spaghetti with Garlic and Zucchini

Project 365
September 7, 2010, Photos #157-162

Both kids switched schools this year, and now no more uniforms and an early start on the bus. I can’t believe they’re second and third graders already!

They barely turned to say good-bye to us. Sniff.

And Madeline joined the school crowd this morning too, starting her first official day of Pre-Pre-K. She really, really, really wanted to go on the bus with the big kids, even though I tried to explain to her that she has a few more years to go.

The Best Damn Pork Butt, Period
Recipe courtesy of Maxim magazine, August 2010

20 sage leaves
3 thyme sprigs, stems removed
3 rosemary sprigs, stems removed
2 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
1 T fennel seeds, lightly toasted
1-1/2 tsp medium-coarse sea salt
1-1/2 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
4 lbs boneless pork shoulder, skin on
2 T extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup dry red or white wine

Heat oven to 250. Chop sage, thyme, rosemary and garlic together. Place in a bowl; add fennel, salt and pepper. Stir. Score pork skin in a cross-hatch pattern, making 1/2-1/4 inch deep cuts about an inch apart. Make 10 1/2-inch deep incisions and stuff them with half of herb mixture. Tie pork tightly with twine, brush olive oil over skin and rub with remaining herbs. Set skin side up and roast for two hours. Pour wine over pork and baste with juices. Continue roasting, basting every half hour until skin is well-bowned, 2-1/2-3 hours more. Let rest for 15 minutes. For crispy skin, slice off cap of skin and fat. Broil, skin side up, three to six minutes. Slice roast and skin and serve together on a platter or crusty roll.