Barley and Tomato Salad

7 cups of cooked Pearled Barley (I cooked up one bag of Publix Pearled Barley per the directions on the side of the bag).
2 cups chopped tomatoes (you can use canned if you'd like- just get the low sodium kind)
Juice of 2 limes
Tablespoon of Red Wine Vinegar
2 Tablespoons of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
a handful of fresh Cilantro (basically, a 1/4 cup, chopped)
1-2 cloves of chopped garlic according to taste
salt and pepper to taste

All you do is combine the ingredients, stir and then chill. The nice thing about grain salads like this is they're good warm and hot, are easy to throw together and are really good for you!

If you don't like raw garlic, lightly saute it in the olive oil before adding.

Garlicky Herb Cheese Dip

The trick to any kind of dip is you HAVE to let it sit for a while and steep. Some flavors will mellow while others will come out stronger, but the main thing is the flavors will become more cohesive and blend so much better. Basically, the flavor profile will change dramatically for the better after a 24-hour chill out in the cold box. Same goes for other dips, as well.

This is an easy dip to prepare- no cooking, just a little chopping of the herbs and crushing of the garlic before dumping it all in the food processor.

This dip is also better with fresh herbs, but you can modify it for dry if you want. You might have to up the measurements, though.

And seriously- buy good cheese for this. That pre-grated processed stuff that's been sitting on the shelf for weeks? Please, don't. It won't taste good and it won't function the same way in the dip. If you get pre-grated, get the fresh-grated from the deli.

Garlicky Herb Cheese Dip

Ingredients

• 1 8oz Package cream cheese
• 1 tablespoon Mayo
• 1 cup sour cream (add more if you want a thinner dip)
• 4 oz each Freshly grated Parmesan and Asiago
• 2-3 cloves garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon rosemary
• 1 teaspoon fresh sage
• 1/4 teaspoon thyme
• One small handful (Approx a cup) fresh flat-leaf (Italian) parsley
• A couple drops of Tabasco
• 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
• pinch of dry mustard
• fresh-ground pepper to taste (I usually add 1/8 teaspoon)
• Salt to taste, if by some chance the cheese doesn't provide enough.

Method

1. Chop herbs and run garlic through garlic press (or mince it), add to food processor and blend until finely chopped, but not a paste. Use the pulse setting for this.
2. Add Cream cheese to garlic herb mixture and blend until combined.
3. Add the sour cream, mayo and cheese and blend. Add more sour cream by the spoonful if desired for a thinner dip.
4. Add the Tabasco, onion powder, dry mustard and pepper. Blend
5. Put in serving bowl, cover and chill for at least 12 hours. 24 hours is better.

I find that the parsley is very strong at this stage and the garlic hits you at the end. I almost regretted the amount of parsley at first. Don't worry- this will change a lot after sitting. Resist the urge to add more garlic until you let it sit. The parsley/ herbs will mellow and the cheese and garlic will come out more.

Have I mentioned you should let this sit for a while? Because you should. ;)

Roasted Garlic

Basic, but it goes along with the Baba Ghanush I'm creating. And a lot of other things. Or just on toast.

There are a lot of ways to roast garlic. None of them are wrong if you get the desired result. This is my version, even though it's really more like braised garlic. But, whatever- it's still yummy and the leftover oil is great for dipping bread if you don't use it for anything else!

Roasted Garlic

Ingredients:

• One head of garlic


• Enough Olive oil to cover

Tools:

• Aluminum foil (about a foot)


• cake pan (size doesn't matter here- this is just to hold the foil pack you're going to make)

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350.


2. Separate and peel all of the cloves from the head of garlic


3. Put garlic on the foil


4. Pull up the sides of the foil so you've created a bowl with the diamter of a soda pop can. Don't close the top, yet!


5. After placing the foil pack in the cake pan, add the olive oil so it covers the very top of the garlic pile


6. Close the packet and roast until garlic is medium to light brown and tender.

Cook time will vary depending on how much garlic you have. I've had it take anywhere from 15 minutes to 45, just keep an eye on it and lightly jostle the packet occationally.

Don't be tempted to crank the heat to speed up the cooking time! Let the garlic take it's time. If you rush garlic, it will get a horrible, bitter taste.

Garlic is tasty, yet vegeful.