Lebanese-Style Lentil Soup with Kale and Spinach

The calendar says fall and the abundance of summer veggies has tapered off…so it’s time to start making hearty soups again! Yesterday my husband and I had lunch at the Lebanese Taverna where they serve a wonderful Lentil Soup (Shorba Addas) that’s rich in greens (spinach?) and spiced with lemon, garlic, and cilantro. With this soup on my brain today, I picked out a Food and Wine recipe to make a lentil soup like the Lebanese Taverna’s.

But instead of making the recipe as shown, I made the soup using Monamifood Garlic Flavors Cubes, Cilantro Sauce Flavor Cubes, and Zesty Citrus Flavor Cubes – which meant I didn’t have to run to the store for any ingredients; just open my freezer! It made it easier and faster to whip up this soup for a Sunday lunch…and, if you ask me, it made this wonderful soup even more delicious than it was when I made it by following the Food and Wine recipe!

This recipe makes a LOT of soup, so you will have plenty left over to give to friends or freeze – or both!

Ingredients

2 cups small green lentils, picked over and rinsed

* Small (really tiny) green lentils are available in our Whole Foods store in the bulk section. But this variety of lentils is not essential. I have used brown lentils before, with good results.

16 cups water (yes, 16 cups!)

3 tablespoons Better Than Bouillon Organic Chicken Base (or Vegetarian No Chicken Base)

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 very large onions, diced

2 pinches of crushed red pepper

4 Monamifood Smooth and Mild Garlic Flavor Cubes

4 Monamifood Cilantro Sauce flavor cubes

1 Monamifood Zesty Citrus Flavor Cube

1 bunch organic kale (curly variety), stemmed and torn into small pieces

2/3 of a 16-0uncd bag of frozen chopped organic spinach

Directions

In a large stockpot, place the lentils, water, and Better Than Bouillon Chicken (or No Chicken) Base. Partially cover and cook over medium heat until the lentils are barely tender – about 25 minutes. (Do not over cook the lentils or they will split and the soup will be grainy!)

Note: Unless you have two, large (11-inch diameter), non-stick saute/frying pans, you will need to saute the onions in two batches. If you were to put all the onions in one pan, they would steam rather than saute.

While the lentils are cooking, heat 1 ½ tablespoons of the olive oil over medium heat in a large 11-inch non-stick skillet. When the oil is hot, add half of the diced onions and one pinch of the crushed red pepper; saute, stirring occasionally, until the onions start to get lightly browned. Remove the onions from the pan and set them aside.

Cook the remaining onions with a pinch of crushed red pepper in the same 11-inch non-stick skillet. When the second batch of onions start to get lightly browned, add these onions — and also the reserved onions — to the pot with the lentils. Stir to mix.

Continue to cook the soup over medium heat. Add the cubes (Garlic, Cilantro Sauce, and Citrus) and stir the soup while the cubes melt. Taste and add a little more Better Than Bouillon Base, if desired.

Add the chopped fresh kale and cook for about 3 minutes. It will soften and turn a lovely deep green color. Then add the frozen spinach and simmer for another minute or two.

Individually season the soup at the table

Individually season the soup at the table! Just pass a small pouring container (creamer, perhaps) containing a few defrosted Monamifood Zesty Citrus Flavor Cubes and a small bowl with a few defrosted Monamifood Cilantro Sauce Flavor Cubes.

Enjoy and be healthy!

~Leni

No-Name-Yet Healthy Mushrooms (Curry; Miso)

This post is actually a post-in-process.

Well, my first attempt to make sauteed mushrooms with mostly turmeric for flavor, was real flop, and it has now been removed from this blog — which is why you won’t find it on this page any more.

Instead, let me suggest sauteeing the mushrooms in olive oil and some Sweet Curry Powder (which is not sweet, just not very hot). I chose Penzeys Spices Sweet Curry Powder because the first ingredient is turmeric and it also contains black pepper, but of course, you could add more black pepper to taste.

While using Sweet Curry Powder instead of turmeric doesn’t provide as much turmeric as if you used mostly turmeric, it tastes a LOT better!

But curried mushrooms do not go with everything…so I started to think again about what I could do to make a great sauteed mushroom dish that would go with most foods…and I came up with sauteed mushrooms and miso! It’s really good.  I don’t have the proportions down yet…but it’s something like 8 ounces of sliced baby portobello mushrooms sauteed in a little olive oil. Then before the mushrooms are fully cooked, pour into the pan a mixture of about 1/2 cup water and a tablespoon miso. Cool until the liquid evaporates and the miso has lightly coated the mushrooms.

Miso.  The darker the miso, the stronger the flavor. Try it you’ll like it!

More exact recipe to come…

Ingredients for sauted mushrooms with curry seasoning

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1 large white  onion, diced (approximately 1/3-inch dice)

• How to dice an onion (a short video)

2 1/2 teaspoons Penzeys Spice Sweet Curry Powder

freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1, 8-0unce box  baby bello mushrooms , sliced (baby bello are baby portobello mushrooms)

pinch of hot red pepper (Note: Use a spoon, not your fingers to avoid possibly burning yourself when you touch your fingers to your eyes.)

salt, to taste, if desired

Optional additions to mix in

1  Smooth and Mild Garlic Flavor Cube I think this works quite well. Just mix a defrosted Garlic Flavor Cube in at the end so that the garlic won’t burn. I took a small (about 1/3-inch high cube) and defrosted it in the microwave and then added it to the cooked mixture of onions and mushrooms. It made the mixture a bit less grainy and more mellow. Very nice.

• Note: If you are defrosting a small amount of food such as a Garlic Flavor Cube in your microwave, it’s a good idea to add something else to the microwave at the same time so that the microwaves have more food to work with. I just keep a half cup of water handy by the microwave and use it over and over for this purpose, as needed.

A squeeze of fresh lemon or lime juice  -  I added a 1/2 teaspoon lime juice after adding the Garlic Flavor Cube. I think I’ll add more next time because it was very nice.

Optional garnish to add on

fresh chopped cilantro (Of course, if you love cilantro, add a touch of green!)

Directions

Heat the olive oil (1 tablespoon) over medium heat in a large (10-inch), heavy non-stick skillet. When hot, add the onions and saute over medium heat, stirring occasionally. When the onions start to become translucent but still have crunch to them (about 8 minutes), add in the curry powder and black pepper; stir to mix; continue to cook over medium heat for 3 more minutes, stirring constantly. (This helps the spices mix and develops their flavor and it prevents the turmeric from tasting awful as it does – at least to me – when it’s raw/uncooked!).  Add a little oil or a little water, if needed, to keep the spices from burning. Remove the onion mixture from the pan and set aside.

Add the second tablespoon of olive oil to the pan (the pan from which you just removed the onions.) When the oil is hot, add the mushrooms. Stir to mix and continue cooking and stirring occasionally for about 10 minutes or until some of the mushrooms get a little brown at the edges.

Now add the onion mixture to the mushrooms in the pan. Add a pinch of hot red pepper and salt, to taste, if desired. Mix well and continue cooking, stirring constantly, for about 4 minutes.

How to use this versatile recipe

Add a few spoons on top of chicken, fish, tofu, eggs, and assorted grains. Mix some into greens and other veggies.

Notes on this recipe in progress: I am still working on this recipe. I’m going to try this again but with some changes. I’ll cook the onions as described above. Then I’ll heat some oil in a small non-stick pan and add the curry powder, black pepper, and red pepper, and cook the spices in the oil for about 30 seconds; bit tricky – do not want to burn them. Then I’ll pour the cooked spices and oil onto the onions in the large skillet. Mix the onions and the spices well and continue cooking for a few minutes. Then do the mushrooms as indicated above, etc.

I will post the results of this next round of testing as soon as I do it. If you have any suggestions, please let me know.

Enjoy and be healthy!

~Leni

Singapore Noodles Plus

This is one way that I can get my family to eat more veggies and not complain. I take one order of Singapore Noodles (take-out from a local Chinese restaurant) and to that I add: onions, Savoy or Nappa cabbage, mushrooms, garlic, turmeric, and black pepper and serve it on a bed of fresh baby arugula.

Is this the PERFECT anti-cancer food? Definitely not. After all, noodles are not low on the glycemic index and the restaurant probably uses “vegetable oil” rather than canola or olive oil in preparing this dish. In addition, the slivers of chicken in the dish are from chickens that most certainly have not been raised without hormones. But this dish is EASY to make and DELICIOUS! And…by adding so many healthy foods to one order of Singapore Noodles, we end up with a dish that, on balance, has a lot more positives than negatives — and one that my family really enjoys.

Ingredients

3 ounces dried sliced shitake mushrooms (Why mushrooms? How do mushrooms help to prevent cancer?)

olive or canola oil

1 large onion, cut into wide slices (Why onions? How do onions help to prevent cancer?)
6 cloves of garlic, minced (Why garlic? How does garlic help prevent cancer?)
1/2 head of cabbage (Savoy or Nappa), cut into 1/2-thick strips (Why cabbage? How does cabbage help to prevent cancer?)
1 serving of Singapore Noodles from a Chinese restaurant (take-out)

turmeric (Why turmeric? How does turmeric help to prevent cancer?)
freshly ground black pepper
tamari or soy sauce

baby arugula (Note: Arugula is a cruciferous vegetable just like cabbage so it acts like cabbage in helping to prevent cancer.)

Chinese hot pepper sauce (for example, Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce)

Directions

Reconstitute the shitake mushrooms according to the package directions OR just put the mushrooms into a bowl, pour enough water into the bowl to just barely submerge the mushrooms in the water; set a small plate on top of the mushrooms to keep them submerged; let them sit for 30 minutes; then remove the reconstituted mushrooms from the liquid with a slotted spoon. Squeeze some or the liquid out of the mushrooms and set the mushrooms aside. (Note: You can strain the mushroom liquid and use it for soups and sauces.)

While the mushrooms are being reconstituted, cut the onions and cabbage into pieces as suggested above and then…

In a large wok (14-inch is good), heat the oil over medium-high heat; when the oil is hot add the onions and stir fry until the onions are wilted and starting to turn translucent; remove the onions from the wok and set them aside.

Add more oil to the wok and when the oil is hot, add the garlic and quickly saute it, removing the garlic from the oil with a strainer before the garlic turns brown; set the garlic aside. Add the sliced cabbage to the hot oil, adding the pieces with the thicker ribs before adding the pieces with the thinner ribs. Stir fry the cabbage until it starts to wilt. Return the sauted garlic to the pan with the cabbage and toss the cabbage to distribute the garlic.

Turn the heat to medium-low and add the Singapore noodles to the wok. Then add the reserved mushrooms and onions and toss to mix well.

Sprinkle the contents of the wok with turmeric (you can add a lot!) and freshly ground black pepper. Season to taste with tamari sauce. Serve on a bed of baby arugula. Pass the Chinese hot pepper sauce at the table.

Also, this dish goes well with Chicken with Chaat Masala since the seasonings in the two dishes are quite similar. So if you want more chicken in your Singapore Noodle Plus dish, just add some chunks of Chicken with Chaat Masala.

Enjoy and be healthy!

~Leni

CILANTRO SAUCE – the anti-cancer “ketchup”!

Makes about 2 ½ cups (about 550 ml) or 24 “mini muffins” of frozen sauce

This delicious sauce transforms the ordinary into the extraordinary – and it’s easy to make. All you need are some common fresh ingredients and a blender. If you think of this of this sauce as your anti-cancer “ketchup” and use it for almost everything – as we do at my house — you will be adding great taste AND lots of anti-cancer nutrients to every dish.

Some yeas ago, Edward Hamann, a culinary expert on food from the Asian subcontinent and a wonderful cooking instructor who is now at Sur La Table, taught a small group of us how to make his fabulous Fresh Cilantro Chutney (Dhaniya ki Chatni ).  I started with his amazing recipe, added turmeric, black pepper, made a few other changes, and that’s how this Cilantro Sauce recipe evolved.

Ingredients

½ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

+ Monamifood “Why Citrus?” How do citrus fruits help to prevent cancer?

½ cup freshly squeezed lime juice

+  If you do not have lime juice, just use 1 cup of lemon juice.

¾ cup chopped walnuts

1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon peeled and roughly chopped fresh ginger

+ Monamifood “Why Ginger?” How does ginger help to prevent cancer?

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

4 cloves of garlic, peeled and smashed slightly with a meat mallet or the back of a heavy cup

+ Monamifood “Why Garlic?” How does garlic help to prevent cancer?

2-3 Serrano peppers, stemmed and roughly chopped, including seeds

+ Use more or less peppers depending on how hot you want it to be

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon agave nectar

+  You can use 2 tablespoons of sugar plus 1 tablespoon water instead of the agave nectar.

+  This amount of sugar or agave nectar is really very little per serving, so it’s OK.

1 tablespoon ground turmeric

+  Monamifood “Why Turmeric?” How does turmeric (and black pepper) help to prevent cancer?

+  Sometimes I add more turmeric. Experiment and add more turmeric, if you like.

½ teaspoon ground cumin

¼ – ½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 – 3 bunches (about 7/8 pound) fresh cilantro, including all but the very ends of the stems

Directions

Place the ingredients into a blender – in the order given above, but do not put all the cilantro in at one time. Using a spatula, firmly push the cilantro down toward the metal blade of the blender; then place the cover on the blender and blend until a lovely smooth sauce results.  Note: You will have to push the cilantro toward the blender blade quite a few time times, but always when the blender if off, not running!

A few of the MANY ways to use this sauce

+  Use as a condiment to liven up almost everything, including fish, chicken, eggs, or tofu.

+ Use as a hot or cold sauce to go with almost everything.

+  Spread on whole grain bread. I made a sardine and onion open-faced sandwich by spreading this Cilantro Sauce liberally onto a piece of lightly toasted whole grain sourdough bread. Then I add a couple of slices of red onion. And, I topped that with sardines (from a can of King Oscar Sardines in Olive Oil). Note: To prepare the sardines for the sandwich, I put the sardines into a strainer and rinsed them with cold filtered water to remove the excess olive oil. Then I let the water drain off well before adding them to the sandwich.)

+  Mix with ripe avocado to make a lovely dip or spread. I just put some of this Cilantro Sauce-avocado mixture on slices of daikon and it was fabulous. The next time I need to bring an appetizer to someone’s party, this is what I plan to bring – it’s delicious and a great conversation starter too!

+  Sauté any vegetable in olive oil and mix some of this sauce in at the end.

+  By the way, I just mixed some of this sauce with some sauted greens (sauted tops of the daikon radish). Superb!

+  Add to soups — bean soups, chicken soups, vegetable soups, fish soups

+  Add olive oil to make this sauce into a salad dressing!

Storage

+  This sauce gets a little thicker by the next day.

+  This recipe makes a lot of sauce. I like to make this large quantity and freeze most of it in 100% food grade silicone mini muffin pans. When frozen, I just pop the frozen mini “muffins” out, and store them in a plastic freezer storage bag in the freezer. (The plastic does not interact with the food, so it’s OK.) Then I just defrost the amount of sauce that I need whenever I want some – as in every day!

+  Since this recipe is made with fresh ingredients and contains garlic, I would store it in the refrigerator for a day or tw, not longer.

Enjoy and be healthy!

~Leni

Why garlic?

The anti-cancer benefits of garlic, as reported in Dr. Servan-Schreiber’s book Anti-Cancer, page 121-122:

• reduce carcinogenic effects of nitrosamie and N-nitroso compounds in food
• promote the death of cancer cells in colon, breast, lung, prostate and leukemia cancers
• possible reduction in kidney and prostate cancer in people who consume the most garlic
• help regulate blood sugar so that cancer cells don’t grow as much

And…here are a few tips on how to prepare garlic to maximize the bio-active healthy components:

• According to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center’s database About Herbs, Botanicals, and Other Products, “Preparation of garlic, such as heating, microwaving, or drying, can substantially reduce the allyl sulfur compounds (allicin and alliin). Crushed raw garlic is highest in these components..”
• According to the American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR), crushing OR chopping garlic is the best way to maximize the bio-active healthy components of garlic.
• AICR suggests that you wait 10-15 minutes after crushing or chopping the garlic so that the anti-cancer substances have a chance to become activated.  AICR video

For more on the health benefits of garlic, see the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center’s website about Herbs, Botanicals and Other Products. (Note: At this link there is a consumer and also a health professional tab. It’s worth reading both of them  – or at least skimming the professional information and reading through the consumer information.)

Enjoy and be healthy!
~Leni

Why turmeric and black pepper?

Dry/powdered or Fresh Turmeric (peel, chop, freeze) – use anytime!

Curcumin and other chemicals in turmeric are powerful anti-inflamatory agents. In the lab, it has been shown that curcumin inhibits a many different cancers. For more on how turmeric fights cancer cells, see Anti-Cancer by David Servan-Schreiber, p. 104-106.

Also, as mentioned on Dr. Servan-Schreiber’s blog,  new research shows that in the Petri dish the bioactive compound found in turmeric (curcumin) and the bioactive compound found in black pepper (piperine) — when combined — are a potent anti-cancer combination – especially against breast cancer stem cells – the cells that conventional treatment (chemotherapy and radiation) have the hardest time eliminating.

Accordingly, Dr. Servan-Schreiber says in his blog: “…given that turmeric and pepper, taken as part of a normal diet, are practically never toxic in any way, it seems to me to be perfectly reasonable to recommend that all of us regularly consume a soupspoon of turmeric every day, with a pinch of pepper.”

But he adds: “CAUTION: Note that it is often safest to avoid turmeric during chemotherapy as well as three days before and after the treatment. This is because it can – rarely, but it can – interfere with some chemotherapy treatments and reduce their benefits.”

Turmeric and black pepper — the combo

Think of these two spices as one – because black pepper must be present in the food for turmeric to be fully assimilated by the body. “Pepper multiplies the body’s absorption of turmeric by two thousand.” (Anti-Cancer by David-Servan Schreiber, p. 104)  So…“To be assimilated by the body, turmeric must be mixed with black pepper (not simply peppers). Ideally, if must also be dissolved in oil (olive, canola, or linseed oil, preferably).” (Anti-Cancer, p. 120)

For more information about turmeric and it’s healthful properties (and some cautions)….

• Memorial Sloan-Kettering’s website – Integrative Medicine, Herbs. Here you will find all the details and background research on turmeric!
• NIH National Center for Complimentary and Alternative Medicine

Delicious recipes with dry powdered turmeric or fresh turmeric

Dry powdered turmeric: To find delicious recipes that give you the health benefits of dry powdered turmeric, just go to the search button (upper right hand section of this page) and enter “turmeric.” One of my favorite recipes with turmeric in it is Cilantro Sauce. My family uses this Cilantro Sauce as a dip for veggies and as a condiment along with bean and lentil dishes!

Fresh turmeric: You can find fresh turmeric (the yellow, not the white variety), at Whole Foods and in Asian supermarkets. To learn about fresh turmeric see Cooking with Kurma.

How to store fresh turmeric for use anytime: When I buy fresh turmeric at the Asian market, I buy a lot at once and process it for storage in my freezer. Here’s how:

Peeling turmeric

• Wash the turmeric to get the dirt off.
• Using a vegetable peeler, peel the skin off; discard the skin.
• Rinse the peeled turmeric with water.
• Place the peeled and rinsed turmeric into the work bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade. Process until the turmeric looks like it’s been grated.

Turmeric after processing in food processor

• Line a rectangular storage container with a layer of parchment paper (and make sure the parchment paper sticks out over the edges of the container) and using a spatula spread just enough of the “grated” turmeric to cover the parchment paper with a thin layer of turmeric.
• Repeat this process: layer of parchment paper; layer of turmeric.

Thin layer of turmeric over parchment paper

• Cover and freeze.
• Remove from freezer and let it defrost on the kitchen counter for a few minutes. Then tug on the top layer of parchment paper that overhangs the sides of the container. This will lift up one frozen layer of turmeric.
• Using your hands (or rubber gloves if you don’t want to get your hands yellow colored), break the layer of frozen turmeric up and place the irregular pieces of frozen turmeric into a plastic bag for the freezer. Store you turmeric in the freezer for future use – anytime! Just remove the amount you need and cook!

Pieces of frozen turmeric in freezer bag

Note: When using fresh turmeric, use at least about twice as much as you would if you were to use dry powdered turmeric, since it is less concentrated and has a milder flavor. And…remember to always add black pepper to your recipe!

P.S. I also store fresh garlic and fresh ginger in the same way! Just peel, process, freeze, and store! Never run out of the healthy foods you need for cooking!

from left: frozen pieces of garlic, turmeric, ginger

Enjoy and be healthy!

~Leni

GARLIC (Part II): Caesar Salad Dressing

Why garlic?

It makes everything — almost — taste great. And…it’s helps your body ward off cancer. For more on the anti-cancer properties of garlic, see the previous post, Garlic: Smooth and Mild Garlic Paste

Since I now have a bunch of frozen discs (“cubes”) of my Smooth and Mild Garlic Paste stashed away in the freezer, it’s so easy to whip up something garlicky delicious anytime. The other day I made the best Caesar salad dressing I’ve ever made!

I always make my own salad dressing. I’m not a fan of store-bought bottled dressings. They mostly come in plastic bottles(not good) and contain “and/or” oils – so you never know exactly what oil is in your salad dressing – though it’s probably the cheapest one of the oils listed. And when it comes to taste, even the best of the store-bought salad dressings (also the most expensive) taste just OK.  That’s why I make my own salad dressing. And it’s easy when you have garlic discs (“cubes”) tucked away in your freezer.

MY FAVORITE CAESAR SALAD DRESSING

This recipe doesn’t contain exact measurements because it’s easy (and fun) to experiment – -and you really can’t go wrong. For example, if it’s too lemony; just add more olive oil. If it’s not salty enough; just add more salt or mustard or anchovy paste — whichever you want.  And if you don’t have anchovy paste, you can omit it; it won’t be Caesar dressing, but it will be good!

Ingredients

The APPROXIMATE measurements given below make enough salad dressing for a few servings.

Approximately 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 disc (“cube”) Smooth and Mild Garlic Paste disc, defrosted

Approximately 2 teaspoons anchovy paste

• Look for an anchovy paste that contains just anchovies or just anchovies and olive oil

• If you can’t find anchovy paste, just make your own. Put the contents of a tin of anchovies (anchovies and olive oil) into the work bowl of a small food processor and process until it forms a puree (paste).

approximately ¼ teaspoon Dijon mustard

approximately 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Take a small glass bottle, (an empty spice jar is perfect for making a small amount of salad dressing), and fill it with the above ingredients. Shake until well blended. Be sure to shake again  right before serving.

Note: This dressing should be refrigerated promptly after preparation and used within 2-3 days for maximum safety and quality.

Comment on salad making

Sometimes instead of adding herbs to the salad dressing I am making, I add herbs directly to the salad. The fresh herbs (as opposed to the herbs that have been sitting in the dressing for a few days) add a fresh taste and fragrance and turn up in unexpected forkfuls — which makes for a more interesting salad!

Enjoy and be healthy!

Leni

GARLIC: Smooth and Mild Garlic Flavor Cubes

Note: Smooth and Mild Garlic Flavor Cubes used to be my favorite way to prepare garlic and keep it on hand. But since developing this recipe, I learned that, according to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center’s database About Herbs, Botanicals, and Other Products, “Preparation of garlic, such as heating, microwaving, or drying, can substantially reduce the allyl sulfur compounds (allicin and alliin). Crushed raw garlic is highest in these components..”

And , according to the American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR), crushing OR chopping garlic is also a good way to maximize the bio-active healthy components of garlic. Also, AICR suggests that you wait 10-15 minutes after crushing or chopping the garlic so that the anti-cancer substances have a chance to become activated.  AICR video

So no longer make the Garlic Flavor Cubes because to do so requires heating… What do I do instead? I buy a big bag of garlic and put the cloves into the food processor fitted with the metal blade and then process until the garlic is finely chopped. Then I place a few sheets of wax paper over the bottom of a glass container and using a spatula I spread the finely chopped garlic in a thin layer on the wax paper. Over that layer of garlic, I place a more few sheets of wax paper and then I spread another layer of garlic on top of the wax paper. In this way, I make a “garlic layer cake.” Then I just cover the top layer of garlic with wax paper and pop the lid on the container and place it in the freezer. When the garlic is frozen, I lift each layer of garlic by the wax paper ends and break the garlic into pieces that I store in freezer bags in the freezer. This way I always have garlic on hand!

And if you still want to make some Smooth and Mild Garlic Flavor Cubes…here’s the recipe:

SMOOTH AND MILD GARLIC FLAVOR CUBES

This garlic paste is smooth and relatively mild – just like roasted garlic– and it’s perfect for adding to cooked or almost cooked dishes – without getting that garlic bite. I started making this garlic paste a few days ago after listening to the host of the NPR’s Splendid Table discuss garlic on her August 15 show.  Now I’m adding garlic paste to everything – well, almost everything!

Ingredients

2 large heads of garlic (not imported from China and preferably organic)

• Monamifood “Why Garlic?” How does garlic help to prevent cancer?
• The garlic from China that I’ve seen is incredibly white and seems to last forever. I don’t know what they do to it, but I imagine they must chemically treat it. So I try to avoid garlic that’s imported from China. Instead, when I buy either organic garlic or non-organic garlic that’s grown in the USA.
• I found a nice little bag of fresh garlic at Trader Joe’s the other day — enough to make a few batches of this garlic paste.
• Also, Costo sells a 3-pound bag of garlic grown in the USA.
• Garlic, like so many fruits and vegetables is  harvested in the late summer, so it’s a great time to buy really fresh garlic and make lot of  this paste and put it away in your freezer.

Extra virgin olive oil

Water

Directions

To separate the cloves of garlic in one easy motion, place a head of garlic on a cutting board and smack the garlic with something smooth and heavy (such as a meat mallet or the flat bottom of a jar).

Next use your mallet or the back of the jar to gently smash any of the cloves that haven’t already been smashed by the blow that broke the cloves apart.

• Why should you lightly smash each clove?  “Active molecules of garlic are released when a garlic clove is crushed and are much more easily assimilated if they are dissolved in a little oil.” (Anti-Cancer, page 122). In other words, to absorb the healthy stuff that’s in garlic, you should bruise/lightly smash/lightly crush the garlic and consume it with oil.
• Lightly smashing each clove also makes the next step easier!

Peel the paper off of each lightly smashed garlic clove.

Please note: The directions immediately below were revised on 9-3-09 and 9-26-09  in order to suggest a procedure that would result in less splattering:

Cover the bottom of a medium-sized heavy sauté pan with slightly less than 1/4 inch of olive oil and 2 – 3 tablespoons of water. (Note: The purpose of the water is to prevent the garlic from burning and developing a bitter taste.)

Add the garlic, cover the pan, and heat over medium heat. (Note: The cover will keep you from getting splattered and let the garlic steam as well as saute.)

When the oil is warm, gently shake the pan back and forth over the burner to keep the garlic moving — just like you would if you were cooking popcorn the old fashioned way. Keep gently shaking the pan back and forth until the garlic turns LIGHT tan in color (like light carmel color).

You may find it necessary to add more water. If so, when you open the lid, carefully (with the opening facing AWAY from your face) add a little more water and close the lid immediately. Or just start with more than 2 tablespoons of water in the pan. Feel free to experiment — using more water if you think it will keep your garlic from sticking.

I like to stop heating and shaking the garlic when the garlic is mostly but not completely light tan in color.

• Note: When garlic gets a brown in color it gets bitter. So don’t let your garlic get brown. If you are cooking a large batch of garlic (many times the amount given in this recipe,) then separate out the smaller and the larger cloves and cook them in two separate batches. That way you can cook the large cloves without letting the small cloves turn brown.

Remove the cover after about 2 minutes (with the lid opening pointing away from you face so as to protect your face from possible splattering) and check on the color of the garlic. When it has  turned light carmel in color on most sides, use a slotted spoon to remove the garlic to a plate; let the garlic sit on the plate to cool.

When the garlic and the oil it cooked in have cooled, add both to the work bowl of a small food processor; process until you have a smooth puree (your wonderful mild garlic paste).

Use a spatula to scrape the garlic paste out of the work bowl and into your glass storage container.

Store in the freezer (NOT in the refrigerator).

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UPDATE

I wrote to allexperts.com and specifically to the experts on food safety to ask about the safety of garlic in oil…because way back in my brain I remember learning that there might be some issues with botulism if the oil and garlic mixture wasn’t handled properly.  Here is the answer I received:

“I have read your blog and I think your process is safe to recommend to your readers. I do suggest that you make it very, very clear that the garlic paste should be frozen IMMEDIATELY and not refrigerated. The combination of the low-acid garlic in a no-air environment (by mixing with oil), and room-temperature storage can support the growth of C. botulinum.

For a research-based article on garlic that you may find interesting (and may want to share with your readers), please see: Garlic by Linda Harris.”

Carol C. Schlitt, MS, CFCS
Extension Educator, Nutrition and Wellness
University of Illinois Extension

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To freeze small portions of garlic paste to make great Garlic Paste Cubes, you can use a silicone mini muffin pan. Just place a tablespoon or so of the paste into each section of the muffin pan. (You don’t have to fill each muffin space up). Let it freeze overnight. Pop the frozen garlic paste discs or “cubes”  out of the muffin pan and freeze them in a freezer-type plastic bag.

If you don’t have a silicone mini muffin tin, follow the instructions given earlier for freezing cubes of pesto. But be sure to let the garlic paste cool completely before you scrape it into the lined muffin tin.

Uses for your garlic paste…

The uses for this garlic paste are endless! Here are some of the ways I have used it in the last couple of days:

• added it to a chicken broth when making a chicken soup
• spread it on toast and topped it with sliced tomatoes for a nice garlic-tomato bruschetta
• added it to a pot of beans
• added it to a pasta sauce I was making with the fresh tomatoes in our garden
• used it in making salad dressing
• topped hot veggies with it

I would love to hear your comments on how you have used it in your own cooking.

Enjoy and be healthy!

Leni