All posts tagged: Garlic

Creamy Garlic Rigatoni with Asparagus

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I got a lot of requests for this recipe after posting it yesterday – but please don’t be disappointed that it’s way healthier than it looks! Since discovering neither of the guys in my house can have dairy, the kitchen has gone fully dairy free in solidarity (but I may keep some butter tucked away in the back of the fridge for emergencies). During fridge cleaning I found some gifted asparagus that was about 2 days past grilling prime and had some banza chickpea pasta I was excited to try – when you’re gluten free, pasta shape variety is limited at best and it’s the first rigatoni I had seen in years! A little garlic, olive oil, nutritional yeast, tapioca starch, salt, and nut milk made the sauce. It tasted delightfully garlic and cheesy and everything you could hope for without heavy cream – and is far more kind to the waistline. (Although I’d be lying if I said the calories were a huge factor, due to reasons of personal motivation, my summer body has …

Thin Crust Pizza Dough

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Happy Memorial Day weekend! ‘Tis the season for grilling but with the crazy wind outside I decided to move cooking inside. The art of perfect pizza has been a labor of love – and a lot of cardboard crust. The biggest key to a good flavor? Patience. I’m not good at it, but it’s the key to the texture and taste. There’s just something to the slow raised, fridge fermented dough. This recipe makes 3-4 pizzas that feed 2-3 people depending on toppings, appetite, size, etc. The one pictured was 1/4 of the dough. And I ate the whole thing. I wish you all a happy bonus weekend Monday – it’s my last one of maternity leave and I’m eating my feelings. Cheers!

“Cream” of Mushroom Soup

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Ok, fine. It’s cauliflower and celery soup with some mushrooms thrown in, but does that sound nearly as good? No.  I feel like cauliflower went from trendy to lame when people figured out that it is not, in fact, a russet potato. (It’s ok, guys. I was disappointed too.)  But that doesn’t mean it can’t be valuable as a kitchen stable when trying to manage your calories, fat, carbs – you name it. The only carbohydrates in this come from vegetables, and it’s got so much fiber that it’s *almost* like eating nothing. It doesn’t taste like nothing. It’s rich and creamy and earthy and all the things that I want a creamy soup to be.  If I hadn’t made this in my own kitchen, I still wouldn’t be convinced that it’s free of all starch and dairy products, but it is.  Miracles DO happen. I’m over hyping this soup. Just try it – for the nutrition exchange, you’d be hard pressed to do better. Need something more to crunch on? Add some more sauteed …

Homemade Pickled Vegetables

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One of my favorite snacks is pickles. They’re salty, sour, crunchy and… pretty much calorie (and guilt) free.  In an effort to get a nice healthy snack into the fridge to satisfy my savory tooth, I decided to try my hand at doing some home pickling. This is a very basic recipe that I plan to develop further, and hopefully can for preservation at some point (like when I invent space in this itty bitty apartment).  You can do this with any mix of vegetables. I used radishes, jalapeños, garlic, cauliflower and celery.  I’m sure it would be great with carrots, onions, olives, okra, etc. The only real recipe is the pickling liquid.  I used the following ratios and it worked excellent.  Bring the water and vinegar to boil and add your salt so it dissolves. Fill the jar with your veggies, cover with liquid, and toss it in the fridge.  They were good to go the next day and are still delicious (and getting stronger!) 5 days later. 2 Cups White Vinegar 1 Cup …

Stuffed Portobella Mushroom Caps

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I love when a trip to Trader Joe’s turns into a kitchen inspiration. I traveled past my usual store that’s on my daily trip home from work in favor of heading to the magical Brookline location that offers WINE. I know what you’re thinking, “Two Buck Chuck, that’s their thing! Don’t all Trader Joe’s have wine?” No. No they don’t. Thanks a lot, Massachusetts. The Brookline location really is an amazing place. Large aisles, room for carts to pass, products I’ve only dreamed of being carried in the Boston downtown location. I think I spent 30 minutes just wandering aimlessly, browsing my new options. Did you know they carry hard alcohol too? They really just have things figured out over there. After I grabbed a basket, I found the wine first. Obviously. Fun Fact: My big work bag can comfortably carry 6 bottles of wine in addition to a pair of shoes, a wallet, headphones, lip gloss, hand sanitizer, and even a jetBlue sleep kit (ok, maybe it’s time to clean it out). I wandered the produce for dinner …

Roasted Halibut with Caper Garlic Aioli

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Fun Fact: I was born in, and even spent a few of my formative years in, Alaska.  What it may be lacking in sunshine, reasonable gas prices (go figure?) and entertainment, southeast Alaska more than makes up for in its abundance of seafood.  In my two teen years we spent there (I’m not counting birth to age 5 for the purposes of food taste development, as I’m pretty sure I lived for crackers and white bread), I can’t say the novelty of having a constant supply of fresh seafood ever wore off.  No, instead, it just set me up for a lifetime of expensive taste at the seafood counter. Last Saturday I spent $25 for a pound of halibut. It was worth it. If you’re not familiar with this fish, proceed with caution. If you cook it perfectly, discovering just how delicious the dense, flaky, mild meat can taste, you’re in for an expensive habit.  If you overcook it, you’re in for a dry, $25 disappointment that will have you cursing the day you ever …

Lemon Basil Shrimp Scampi

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Whole foods has this great concept of “flash sales” where things are a reasonable price for like, 5 minutes.  I walked in on Friday afternoon to one of these sales at the seafood counter – 10-15ct shrimp for $14.99 (stellar by Whole Foods and Boston standards).  I picked some up without purpose and figured they’d find a use within the next couple days.  I mean, how could I say no? Look at these beauties!   I thought about cooking them Friday, but we’re in the midst of a painfully miserable humid-soaked heat wave.  It was decided cooking was out of the question Friday night and we had fro-yo for dinner.  Sorry I’m not sorry. Tonight proved finally comfortable enough to cook these beasts of the sea.  I don’t think the weather is all that much better, but I pushed myself out on a 6 mile run (more on that later) and pasta seemed like the right answer.  When you add a pasta craving to the fact that I have giant shrimp in the fridge and …

Quinoa Mushroom “Risotto”

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Quinoa is weird. I found a few salads to make with it last summer that I enjoyed, but only because they were loaded with salami and cheese and olive oil (and they really were delicious). Since then I’ve had half a bag of quinoa in my cupboard that even made the cut in a move across town yet has remained untouched. I used it in place of arriboro rice for an attempt at a healthier version of “risotto” and now I’ve made variations of it twice since. Start with onion and garlic (a universal rule in my kitchen). The onion I used was small – about 1/2 cup when diced up – and 2 cloves of garlic that equated to about a tablespoon if you’re using jarred garlic. Please don’t use jarred garlic. Chop and dice to your liking and toss them in a pan with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and spice it up. I used salt, pepper, cayenne, celery seed and cumin. The combination was quite good. I wish I could tell you …

Cauliflower & Turkey Bacon Mashed

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Cauliflower.  I don’t really like it. But I really, really want to.  I eat it, because that’s what you’re supposed to do; eat your vegetables. I do, however, like bacon. Tonight I unenthusiastically bought a cauliflower because it seemed like I should take a break from carbo-loading at night when I’m not doing nearly enough to justify it – but I came home and found leftover turkey bacon.  A star was born. To start, buy a cauliflower.  We’re going to make it taste good.  Really, I promise. Clean it up.  I still haven’t ever discovered anything to do with the greens.  If you have an idea, let me know. By the way, I bought a new knife.  I didn’t know what I was missing.  If you don’t have a good knife, go buy one.  Right now.  Do it, you won’t be sorry.  This is a Wusthof and I still don’t really know how to pronounce it. It was a little hard to not go crazy chopping it up, just because I could. Put your coarsely …