Goat Cheese & Roasted Garlic Spread

Ingredients:
2 whole heads garlic
¼ cup olive oil
½ tsp dried thyme
salt & freshly ground black pepper
8 oz. goat cheese, room temperature
4 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
juice of 1 lemon
chopped chives for garnish
crostini or crackers for serving

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Rub off any loose paper layers on the garlic.
Place in a baking dish just large enough to hold the garlic.
Drizzle the oil over top and sprinkle with thyme, salt and pepper over top.
Cover with foil and bake for 1 hour or until the garlic is very tender.

Once cool, cut off the tops of the garlic heads and squeeze out the pulp.
Set aside.

Beat the cheeses in a standing mixer.
Add the lemon juice and roasted garlic.
Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Place in a small ramekin and garnish with the chopped chives.

Serve with crostini or crackers.

Pasta Salad with Roasted Brussels Sprouts

1 pound pasta
2 tablespoons of mustard
1/4 cup olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup basil, coarsely chopped
1.5 cup tomatoes, coarsely chopped
1.5 cup brussels sprouts, coarsely chopped
1 container of shredded cheese (any will do, but I used the Trader Joe's shredded cheese blend)

1. Cook 1 pound of pasta. After cooking, dump in an ice bath to stop the cooking and then strain.
2. While pasta is cooking, make dressing: combine mustard, olive oil, salt, pepper and mix
3. Combine all other ingredients and stir. Serve chilled

Chinese Tea Eggs

The first step is to make perfect boiled eggs:

1. Put 6 eggs from the fridge into a pot of cold water (water must be cold and eggs must be cold for best results) and eggs should not be all smashed together in the pot
2. Fill pot with enough water to cover the eggs with 2 inches of water on top
3. Add about 1 tablespoon of salt
4. Bring water to a rolling boil and then shut off heat completely
5. Let the eggs sit on the stovetop in the water for about 10 minutes
6. Pour out most of the water and dump a ton of water on top of the eggs, shocking them with cold
7. Let eggs sit in ice bath for about 1 minute
8. Using either the round edge of a spoon or a counter top, break the eggs in many places and then place back in ice bath for 1 minute
9. Pick up eggs and the shells should slide right off!

Now how to make the egg marinade:

• 4 tablespoons light soy sauce (or soy sauce)
• 2 tablespoons dark soy sauce (or soy sauce)
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon Sichuan peppercorns
• 1 star anise
• 1 small cinnamon stick
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 black tea bags (or 2 tablespoons black tea leaves)
• 2 1/2 cups water

1. Put all ingredients (not eggs) into a pot, and bring to a boil.
2. When water is boiling, simmer for about 30 min.
3. Remove from heat.

Now for the fun and easy part - put the egg marinade in a container, put the eggs in (if you want pretty eggs, you can boil the eggs, but instead of peeling the shells off, marinate the eggs with the shells on but with all the tiny cracks. It will look like the eggs are marbled), and put in the fridge over night or for about a day.

Delicious, quick breakfast that's also fun to make. :-)

Roasted Okra

Preheat an oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).

Arrange the okra slices in one layer on a foil lined cookie sheet.

Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Bake in the preheated oven for 10 to 15 minutes.

Roasted Spaghetti Squash

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

Split the squashes in half and scrape out seeds.

Line an oven tray with aluminum foil.

Season the spaghetti squash with olive oil, salt, and pepper.

Place flesh side down and roast for 30 to 40 minutes until fully cooked. Remove from the oven and let rest until cool enough to handle.

When squash is cool enough to handle, using a large kitchen spoon scrape the strands of squash from the inside of the skin.

Coat with whatever sauce/gravy you're going to use, and enjoy!

Oven Roasted Cabbage

Ingredients:

1 head of cabbage
3 tablespoons (or more) of oil-coconut oil, tallow, etc
Salt and Pepper to taste (I used about a tablespoon of each)
Optional: 1 teaspoon of favorite herbs like basil, caraway seeds, dill, etc.

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Slice the cabbage starting at the top of the head so that the inner pieces for circles within the slices. Aim for ¼-1/2 inch slices.

Place aluminum foil on top of the baking sheet and place cabbage slices on top of foil.

Drizzle cabbage slices with oil and sprinkle with desired spices (it is even delicious with just Himalayan salt !) and place in the oven.

Roast for 35-40 minutes or until tender in the middle and sides are just starting to turn golden brown.

Remove and serve.

Garlicky Baked Butternut Squash

2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
3 1/2 pounds butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
1/4-1/3 cup vegan parmesan cheeze OR  grated Parmesan cheese*


Directions:

1. In a large bowl, combine the parsley, oil, garlic, salt and pepper. Add squash and toss to coat.

2. Transfer to an ungreased shallow 2-qt. baking dish. Bake, uncovered, at 400 degrees F for 50-55 minutes or until squash is just tender.

3. Stir in Parmesan cheese.