Roasted Garlic and Pepperoni Pasta

I'm excited about this one! I'm excited because I made it without a recipe, and I was trying something for purely experimental purposes, and it totally worked! I wasn't even sure it would work, but I was willing to allow my family to be the guinea pigs in this particular experiment. You see, I had several heads of garlic, and I really wanted to roast some up. With that as my starting point, this whole meal was born.

I decided to build upon my roasted garlic idea with things I had around the house that I wanted to use up. I was feeling like creating a roasted garlic sauce, but I wanted it to be creamy and not fattening. A tall order, right? Well, wait a minute. Get this: if you put ricotta cheese in the food processor with a touch of olive oil, the whole head of roasted garlic, and some reserved pasta cooking liquid, you get a nice, healthier, creamy sauce! I'm sure somebody out there has already thought of this, and I just caught on to it late. But I was pretty proud of myself, considering I just came up with it on the fly.

I sauteed a red onion, added a huge pile of spinach and a huge pile of Swiss chard to the skillet, and wilted the greens down. Next, I added some turkey pepperoni. Now, this is the part of the recipe where I would have done it differently if I had to go back and redo it. But lucky for you, I have learned from my mistake and I wrote out the instructions to include the change. Why, you may ask? Well, because the pepperoni just ended up getting a bit droopy and limp as a result of adding it in after the veggies. It was still okay, but just a bit tasteless. Next time, I would cook the pepperoni first, until it became crispy, and then I would take it out and reserve it to throw on top of the pasta at the end. Oh well, I'm learning!

Since the sauce I created did turn out a bit thin, I thought fast and added it to the skillet that contained the veggies. By simmering it for just a few minutes, I was able to thicken it up and turn it into a nice, alfredo-y sauce. If you wanted to, you could add some Parmesan cheese to the sauce and really take it over the top. I liked it as is. Best of all, the family liked it too! My husband was none the wiser about me creating this dish, and he started raving about it over dinner. When I told him that I hadn't even used a recipe, he was pretty impressed. That made me feel good; I find that some of my favorite moments in the kitchen come when I am able to "invent." So it's great when the invention works out well!

Roasted Garlic and Pepperoni Pasta
recipe by Bri
makes 6-8 servings

Ingredients
5 tsp. extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1 whole head of garlic, outer papery skin removed and top 1/4 cut off
1 lb. pasta, any shape will do
1 medium red onion, sliced
4 cups fresh baby spinach
3-4 cups Swiss chard, stemmed and chopped
1/2 cup (it's actually 34 slices, but in case you don't feel like counting!) turkey pepperoni, halved
1/2 cup ricotta cheese (I used part-skim)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Drizzle about 1/2 tsp. olive oil over the head of garlic, wrap it tightly in foil, and roast in the oven for about 45-50 minutes. Remove from oven and allow it to cool slightly.

2. Heat a large pot of water to a boil on the stove. Add the pasta to the pot and cook according to the package directions. Reserve at least 1 cup of the cooking liquid to make the sauce.

3. In a medium nonstick skillet, heat 1 1/2 tsp. oil over a medium heat. Add the pepperoni and cook until just heated through and slightly crispy, about 5 minutes or so. Remove the pepperoni to a plate. To the skillet, add the red onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 to 8 minutes. Add in the spinach and Swiss chard gradually, allowing it to wilt some before adding more.

4. Meanwhile, in the bowl of a food processor, add the head of roasted garlic, the 1 cup reserved cooking liquid, the remaining 1 Tbsp. olive oil, and the 1/2 cup ricotta cheese. Puree the mixture until it is smoth and resembles a thin sauce. Add salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

5. Pour the sauce into the wilted greens and allow the mixture to come to a simmer. Turn the heat back and continue to cook at a low simmer until the sauce has thickened some, about 3-4 minutes. Turn off the heat and combine the sauce with the pasta and pepperoni (I added everything back into the pasta pot after the pasta had been drained), tossing well to coat the pasta with sauce. Divide into shallow bowls and serve.

Chili-Espresso Rubbed Pork Chops with Roasted Garlic Quinoa

Pork is one of those things that I'm constantly seeking new inspiration for, to try preparing it in ways I never have before. I found a recipe for Chili-Espresso Rubbed Steaks in Cooking Light a few months back, and decided to bookmark it and use it for boneless pork chops instead of flat-iron steaks.

The recipe was very simple: put together a spice blend which contained, among other things, espresso powder and chili powder, rub it all over the chops, and allow it to sit for 30 minutes. Then, the original instructions advised you to cook the meat on your outdoor grill, but I opted for the oven instead, and baked my pork chops. Then, a combination of cherry tomatoes, parsley, sherry vinegar, and extra-virgin olive oil was processed until not quite smooth, heated through, and used as a gravy that was to be put on top of the chops. Easy and elegant, full of tart and tangy flavors, and of course, healthy! I couldn't ask for more.

In the same issue of Cooking Light (August 2010) I also found a quinoa side dish that I decided to make along with the pork chops. I liked the fact that the quinoa utilized tomatoes as well, so it was easy for me to just use one whole small container of the cherry tomatoes to prepare this whole meal. Along with the tomatoes, you added a whole head of roasted garlic and some fresh spinach to the cooked quinoa, so it was packed with veggies and flavor. I prepared a simple side of green beans to complete the meal.

We loved the whole thing, every part of it. The pork chops were so delicious; we were big fans of the spice rub, which was at once spicy and smoky and peppery. The rub also made a nice crust on top of the meat, which yielded a tender, juicy chop underneath. It paired so well with the tomato gravy, which was tart/sweet and sort of coarse from the way it was blended.

The quinoa was just as flavorful. The roasted garlic was mellow and creamy, the tomatoes were a nice pop of tanginess, and the whole thing was lightly seasoned with crushed red pepper, Parmesan cheese, and a touch of salt. I'm happy to say that I've found yet another great way to cook and serve quinoa, as this one was devoured by everyone. It's always a victory when that happens!

Chili-Espresso Rubbed Pork Chops

adapted from Cooking Light

makes 4 servings

Ingredients

2 tsp. espresso powder

1 tsp. garlic salt

1 tsp. ground cumin

1 tsp. dried oregano

1 tsp. chili powder

1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

4 (6-ounce) boneless pork chops

Cooking spray

1 cup cherry tomatoes

2 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley

1 tsp. extra-virgin olive oil

1 tsp. sherry vinegar

Directions

1. Combine first 6 ingredients; stir well. Rub spice mixture evenly over both sides of the pork chops; cover and let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

2. Place steaks on a baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray or lined with foil and then sprayed with cooking spray. Bake the chops for 35 minutes, until cooked through and the internal temperature is between 145 and 160 degrees F. Allow to rest for at least 5 minutes.

3. While the meat rests, place the tomatoes and the rest of the ingredients in a blender or food processor; process until coarsely chopped. Spoon tomato mixture into a microwave-safe bowl and microwave on high 1 minute. Serve with the pork chops.

Quinoa with Roasted Garlic, Tomatoes, and Spinach

adapted from Cooking Light

makes 4 servings

Ingredients

1 whole garlic head

1 Tbsp. olive oil

1 Tbsp. finely chopped shallots

1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper

1/2 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed and drained (I used half red, half white quinoa)

1 Tbsp. dry white wine

1 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth

1/2 cup baby spinach leaves

1 cup cherry tomatoes, whole or halved

1 Tbsp. shaved fresh Parmesan cheese (mine was shredded)

1/4 tsp. salt

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Remove papery skin from garlic head. Cut garlic head in half crosswise, breaking apart to separate whole cloves. Wrap half of head in foil; reserve remaining garlic for another use. Bake for 1 hour; cool 10 minutes. Separate cloves; squeeze to extract garlic pulp. Discard skins.

2. Heat oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add shallots and red pepper to pan; cook 1 minute. Add quinoa to pan; cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add wine; cook until liquid is absorbed, stirring constantly. Add broth; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes or until liquid is absorbed.

3. Remove the quinoa from the heat and stir in the garlic pulp, spinach, tomatoes, cheese, and salt. Serve immediately.

Garlic "Fries"

We love french fries around here. It's probably one of the very few foods that we can all agree on in my household. Populating my family is a hubby who will eat anything, a picky-ish but increasingly adventurous me, an extremely picky 5 year-old, and a 22 month-old who throws mostly anything besides cake on the floor. Sigh. So when you've struck gold, as I have, with discovering how much everyone loves fries, you've got to capitalize on that.

Unfortunately, they're kinda bad for you. The run-of-the-mill, greasy, restaurant-style ones are, anyway. Delicious, yes. Great to eat daily? Not so much.

Well, thanks to my most-beloved cookbook, Ellie Krieger's The Food You Crave, we now have an easy way to enjoy french fries any time we want, without the greasy unhealthiness. Ellie explains in her book that fries are a weakness of hers, so obviously she had to create a way for her to indulge and still eat well. These are a perfect solution.

To be honest, I took the lazy way out with these fries and I did not follow the recipe exactly. In her version, Ellie infuses canola oil with garlic flavor, then uses that oil on the potatoes before baking them in the oven. I just used some oil and some garlic powder and called it a day. I would love to try it with the garlic-infused oil next time because you can totally tell that these would just be delicious on a completely different level. Ellie also garnishes the finished fries with fresh parsley, but I didn't bother with that, either. I told you, I was lazy that day!

I've made oven-baked french fries before, but these were the tastiest I've had yet. It could have something to do with the fact that I had the patience to cut them like actual french fries, I dunno. In the past I've made really big cuts, and they turn out more like roasted potatoes, not that there's anything wrong with roasted potatoes. Hey, that's probably why I was so lazy by the time I got to the seasoning step; I had already used all my energy cutting up the taters! Ha. I'm posting Ellie's version of the recipe below; obviously, it's better than what I did!

Garlic "Fries"
from Ellie Krieger via Food Network.com
serves 4

Ingredients
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbsp. canola oil
3 large baking potatoes, 12 oz. each
1/2 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. finely chopped fresh parsley leaves

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Heat the garlic and oil in a small saucepan over medium heat for 2 minutes. Strain the garlic from the oil with a small mesh strainer. Set both garlic and oil aside.

2. Cut the potatoes into 1/4-inch sticks. In a large bowl, toss the oil, potatoes, and 1/2 tsp. salt. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray and spread the potatoes onto it in a single layer. Bake until golden and crisp, about 35 minutes.

3. Remove the potatoes from the tray with a metal spatula. Toss with parsley, reserved garlic, and additional salt, to taste. Serve immediately.