Yes, indeedy! Alliums. According to Webster’s: any of a large genus (Allium) of bulbous herbs of the lily family including the onion, garlic, chive, leek, and shallot. Another low-acid food was assigned to us for this month’s Tigress’ Can Jam. But I love every member of this family, so I was pretty excited. And had absolutely no idea what I was going to do.

And then I went to the local farmers’ market and found

Colorful local spring onions, green garlic, and its big brothers! Who knew you could grow garlic in South Florida? In the same trip, I also scored some incredible balsamic vinegar and fig balsamic. Now what?

I read a lot of recipes, got my proportions straight, and created:

Pickled Onions & Green Garlic al Balsamico

You know I made that up, right?

Ingredients:

6 spring onions + 4 green garlics, washed well & sliced thinly (white & light green parts only)
(totaling about 5 cups)

1 cup red wine (I used a Montepulciano)

1 cup water

1 tsp. salt

3/4 cup good balsamic vinegar

Method:

Put the onions and green garlic in a 4 quart saucepan with the red wine, water and salt. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then lower to a simmer for about 5 minutes, or until the vegetables soften slightly. Add the balsamic vinegar and return to a simmer for another 5 minutes.

In the meantime, prepare 2 pint jars and their lids for boiling water canning and get your canning pot up to a boil.

Divide the hot, cooked vegetables between the two prepared jars and fill with the hot balsamic/wine liquid, leaving 1/2 inch head space. You might have some liquid left over.

Clean the rims of the jars with a wet cloth or paper towel, put lids on the jars, finger-tighten the lid rings and process in boiling water for 10 minutes. Turn off the heat and allow to sit in the hot water for another 5 minutes before removing the jars to cool.

Allow to sit for at least a week before eating, and of course, refrigerate after opening.

I made 2 batches of this – one with the regular aged balsamic vinegar, and the other with the fig balsamic. We served the fig balsamic version with other pickled vegetables (including last month’s Baby Carrots in Honey, Vinegar & Dill) as part of the antipasto at my mother’s birthday party, last weekend, and it was simply delish with my homemade Italian bread & parmesan breadsticks. It goes well as a pickle side dish for chicken, too.

The pickling liquid was so good, I drizzled some of it over the Mini-Caprese Picks I made for the party, instead of the balsamic dressing I usually use. The crowd went wild (insert roaring stadium noise in the background, here)!

For the Mini-Caprese Picks, just skewer a grape tomato, a folded basil leaf and a cherry-sized mozzarella ball onto plastic party picks or even wooden toothpicks (which I did when I ran out of the plastic ones!). Much easier to handle in a party situation than the traditional caprese salad. Not to mention adorable!

Oh, and the tops of the green garlic? They’re perfectly edible and pack a pretty good garlic punch, too. For breakfast one morning, I quartered some leftover boiled new red potatoes, and rough chopped a medium onion and sauteed them in a large pan with a little olive oil, stirred in 4 beaten eggs and then about 3 tablespoons of the chopped green tops of the green garlic. Really tasty “Farmer’s Scramble”!

This one was fun and I can’t wait to see what everyone else in “The Jam” cooked up!

Print this post for your Moleskine journal!

If you skipped yesterday’s posts hoping I’d move on to a happier subject today, you’re in luck!

I’m on a healthy cooking kick lately, most of which seems to be occurring over the weekend. If something works out, Mondays are the logical time to share that with you. Mostly so I’m forced to write it down and remember what I did. I can’t promise a new recipe every Monday – or even any kind of post, for that matter – but, hey! This makes 3 in a row… I think it’s a trend. At least it’s not a muffin!

Roasted Garlic & Spinach Pasta
– Makes 4 servings

1/4 cup olive oil
1 Tbs Smart Balance or butter
4 cloves garlic, chopped in large, coarse pieces
1 medium onion, cut in large dice
1 box whole grain short pasta (e.g., rotini)
1 package baby spinach
1 14-1/2 ounce can diced tomatoes
salt and pepper to taste
grated parmesan cheese to garnish

In a small sauté pan, heat olive oil and Smart Balance (or butter) together over medium-low heat.

Add the garlic, onion, a pinch of salt and a pinch of pepper. Stir together and reduce heat to low, stirring occasionally.

In the meantime, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, add pasta and cook according to package directions to al dente. Drain and return to the pot.

Add the uncooked baby spinach to the hot, cooked pasta, pour the hot oil with the onion and garlic over the top, and toss together.

Turn the heat back on to medium, add the diced tomatoes, stir to combine, and cover the pot. Heat for an additional 4 minutes. Serve it up with a little grated parmesan on top, and enjoy!

I’m really liking these new whole grain pastas that are on the market now. They’re not as tough as the old whole wheat versions, they’re high in protein and fiber, and have much better-balanced carbs. I used the Barilla Whole Grain Rotini here, but Ronzoni also makes some good ones, and you can use anything that looks good to you – even a long pasta, if you like.

I’m also fond of those bags of baby spinach you find in the salad section of the store. It’s completely clean, tender, and so quick that, as in this recipe, you hardly need any direct heat to cook it.

What about the oil? Olive oil, as well as being tasty, is one of those healthy, monounsaturated fats. From Wikipedia: “Unlike the high amount of animal fats typical to the American diet, olive oil lowers cholesterol levels in the blood. It is also known to lower blood sugar levels and blood pressure. Olive oil contains the monounsaturated fat, oleic acid which has antioxidants such as vitamin E and carotenoids, and oleuropein, a chemical that prevents the oxidation of LDL particles. It is these properties that are thought to contribute to the health benefits of olive oil. Research indicates olive oil prevents peptic ulcers and is effective in treatment of peptic ulcer disease, and may be a factor in preventing cancer.” So, while it is a fat, it’s one of the good guys!

This is really quick to throw together on a weeknight, and – served with a salad, maybe some garlic bread – a completely nutritious meal – especially if you want to go meatless one or two nights a week.