Southwest Garlic Seasoning was the Hit Today!

First of all, welcome new Garlic Earth customers! We had such a fun time meeting so many nice people at the O'Fallon Farmers and Artists Market earlier today. The Southwest Garlic Seasoning was the most popular today. We can't wait to demo our Asian Marinade recipe that we make with the Asian Garlic Seasoning. We hope to have our grill going next time so that we can share the Asian stir fry and balsamic marinade, the latter which is made with the Italian Garlic Seasoning (the recipe for the balsamic marinade is in a previous post below).

I will post the recipe for a Bean Salsa that I made last week. It's very easy, nutritious, and so good. I first heard the recipe on an NPR health show, then I tweaked it a little bit. It has corn, black beans, pinto beans, celery, peppers, onion, the juice of a fresh lime, the Southwest Garlic Seasoning and a sweet cider vinaigrette. It goes very well with the Southwest Wonton Chips or even baked tortilla chips, like tortilla scoops. In the meantime, there's a recipe for Guacamole in a previous post below. That was a big hit at a friend's birthday party a few weeks ago -- also goes very well with the Southwest Wonton Chips.

Please check back often for more recipe ideas and to see when where we'll be demonstrating next. We will try to get back to the O'Fallon Farmers and Artists Market within the next few weeks. We're looking at the first Saturday in August, but we'll try to squeeze in one more Saturday before then. We'll let you know as soon as we know and as usual, feel free to email me with any questions or comments: GarlicEarth@yahoo.com

Sat. 7/11: Italian Biscuits & Southwest Wonton Chips at O'Fallon Market

Hope you can stop by and see us at the O'Fallon Farmers' and Artists' Market this Saturday, 7/11 from 7 am - 11 am. We'll have our seasonings at Market Special prices and goodies to share, like the Italian Biscuits (picture below in previous blog entry) and our baked Southwest Wonton Chips.

The market is held at the River City Rascals Ballpark on T. R. Hughes Blvd. in O'Fallon, MO. Go north from Hwy. 70 on T.R. Hughes. We're in the parking lot by the white awnings at the ballpark.

Hope to see you there!

Almond and Flaxseed Meal in Eggplant Parm?

Absolutely. I tried it and it works well! A long time ago, I learned to bake the breaded eggplant slices instead of frying them in oil (that was a fatty mess!). You can also use slightly beaten egg white instead of a whole egg for breading. This time I actually used Eggbeaters. I have recently started replacing flour and breadcrumbs with almond meal and/or flaxseed meal. They are very nutritious with very low in carbohydrates. I used 1 tablespoon, or 3 teaspoons, of Garlic Earth Italian Garlic Seasoning in the breadcrumb mixture and a few shakes in the veggie/meat saute. You can find Almond Meal and Flaxseed Meal at your local large supermarket OR online for a bit cheaper.

When I served this dish to my neighbor (who has also been my guinea pig for my new recipes -- thank you, Shanna!) and my adorable niece, they really liked it.

My niece asked that I cut the eggplant sort of thin so that the dish didn't come out mushy -- I did this and she was right! There was more crispiness than mush. Yum!

So, the next time you make Eggplant Parmesan, try breading the slices with the following before baking them in your favorite sauce and cheese. My recipe also has a little wine -- Cabernet Sauvignon to be exact -- in the sauce, too! I could go on and on about my recipe, but I'll try to limit myself to the breading part for now.

For a 9 x 13" casserole dish, cut 1 - 2 eggplants into 18 slices (for 6 stacks of 3 slices -- layered with cheese, sauteed veggies, meat, etc.). The first step is to bread and bake the eggplant slices. Bread the 1/2-inch slices this way...

You will need:

1. To preheat oven to 375 degrees F;
1. About 1 cup of egg mixture (slightly beaten egg white, egg OR Eggbeaters).
2. 1/2 cup Italian Style Breadcrumbs, 1/2 cup Almond Meal, 1/8 cup Flaxseed Meal, 3 teaspoons Garlic Earth Italian Garlic Seasoning -- stir well;
3. 2 cookie sheets greased or sprayed with olive oil;
4. Dip eggplant slices into egg mixture, then into the breading mixture;
5. Place slices as you bread them onto greased cookie sheet. Bake for 15 minutes, flip slices, bake another 15 minutes.

The slices will be ready to layer into casserole dish. If you have any other questions about this recipe or any of my other ones, feel free to email me at GarlicEarth@yahoo.com.

Sappington Farmers' Market Thurs. 6/18 from 11 - 2

Garlic Earth will be sharing samples of their Fajita Chicken and Vegetables made with their Southwest Garlic Seasoning at Sapppington Farmers' Market from 11am - 2pm Thursday, 6/18. As usual, there will be samples available of their Wonton Chips, too!

Thursday is always $10 off day (with purchase of $50 or more) when you use their coupon. If you can't print the coupon, it's in their weekly ad that can be found at the entrance of the store.

Just follow the smell of that grilled chicken and Southwest seasoning...

Roasted Garlic Guacamole

3 - 4 avocados
the juice of 1 - 2 limes
1 serrano chili, finely chopped, keep some of the seeds for heat
1 teasp. Garlic Earth Southwest Garlic Seasoning + more to taste
2 - 4 roasted garlic cloves (1 head of garlic, top chopped to expose some cloves, drizzle w/olive oil, wrap in foil or parchment, roast at 400 degrees for 45 - 60 min.)
1/4 teasp. cayenne pepper
8 oz sour cream (light works)
2 tomatoes, chopped

Combine everything except for the sour cream and tomatoes (which will be folded in gently at the end), mash together with a fork, mashing the avocados to get most of the chunks. Add the sour cream and tomatoes, then lightly shake more Southwest Seasoning as needed -- gently stir and taste.

This goes great with Southwest Wonton Chips!

Italian Biscuits with Butter

Another easy recipe -- it's becoming a family favorite! I heat a couple tablespoons of butter, healthy margarine or olive oil with a few shakes of the Garlic Earth Italian Garlic Seasoning, then brush each biscuit (top and bottom) with the mixture and bake.

Click on the picture to see every bit of herbs and vegetables clinging to the biscuit from the Italian Garlic Seasoning!

Grilled Asian Chicken Legs

Can you see the specks of Garlic Earth Asian Garlic Seasoning on that chicken? My son looked at it and asked what the specks were.

I told him those specks are bits of garlic, pepper, onion and ginger.

Last night, I drizzled some olive oil and the Asian seasoning on a tray of chicken legs. I let it marinate for about an hour. I then grilled it right on the stovetop (I just love this grill pan -- it's a griddle on one side and a grill top on the other).

After searing the chicken over med-low heat, turning about every 6 minutes, I finished them off in the oven in a casserole dish until they were done.

Another easy recipe -- that kids should love, too!