Easy Buttery Garlic Bread Spread (Garlic Butter), Vegan or Not

My kiddies adore garlic bread!  I had to write this recipe down for them, as I know that they will want to make it just "like mom's".  

Garlic toast hot dog buns 

At my local Canadian grocery store, a loaf of garlic bread (French bread spread with garlic buttery spread) costs $4.  Their garlic spread has a very long (and unnatural) ingredient list.    

A loaf of plain French bread costs $2.  I make my own garlic bread at a fraction of the cost.  No French bread?  I toasted hot dog and hamburger buns (leftover from Baby's birthday party) with this garlic spread and my family loved it!

My kiddies loved this so much, they even had it spread on their morning toast!  

With only 3 simple ingredients, we were able to enjoy "restaurant-style" garlic bread at a fraction of the cost.  I always have dried parsley and garlic powder in my collection of spices.  

With soft non-hydrogenated margarine (I used Becel vegan) or softened butter, this mixes up super fast!  The dried parsley makes the garlic spread look like the ones in the restaurants.  

A great way to use up leftover hot dog buns!  Ready to be toasted in the oven.  

Easy Buttery Garlic Bread Spread (Garlic Butter), Vegan or Not

makes 1/2 cup garlic butter

1/2 cup softened butter or vegan non-hydrogenated margarine (I used Becel vegan)
1 1/2 Tbsp garlic powder* (I tone it down to 1 Tbsp)
1 Tbsp dried parsley
optional:  your favourite shredded cheese

Mix softened butter or margarine, garlic powder and dried parsley together in a bowl.

Spread on your favourite bread (and add shredded cheese, if desired) and bake in hot 375F oven for about 3 minutes or broil until golden brown.  

*I think grated or finely minced fresh garlic would be great.  Just add to taste.  

- Adapted from Allrecipes.com: Great Garlic Bread

Leftover hamburger buns?  Make garlic toast hamburger buns!

Enjoy!

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Meyer Lemon, Roasted Garlic and Sundried Tomato Hummus

Hummus is a tasty Middle-Eastern chickpea dip that has become very popular here in North America.  I have been playing around with this healthy high protein dish lately and surprisingly, my 8 year old son has fallen in love with it.  

Most basic hummus recipes are comprised of chickpeas, garlic, olive oil, tahini (sesame seed paste), lemon juice and salt.  

I was inspired by the different flavours of hummus at the supermarket:  sundried tomato, roasted red peppers, roasted garlic and traditional.  Out of curiosity, I added 2 heads of roasted garlic, the juice and zest of 1 Meyer lemon and 2 cut up sun-dried tomatoes to the chickpea mixture.  Wow.  It was very tasty and my three-year old wanted to dip her carrot sticks in it.  Even my two older children ended up eating this by the spoonfuls!  I think this will be the way I make hummus from now on.  As long as I have Meyer lemons, roasted garlic and sun-dried tomatoes, I am very happy!   Meyer lemons are known to be sweeter and less acidic (less "pucker") than regular lemons.  

I bought a huge bag of garlic bulbs on sale and made a big batch of roasted garlic.  Once roasted, I froze the individual cloves of roasted garlic and stored them in a zipped sandwich baggie.  To use, thaw the frozen cloves of roasted garlic for 20-30 seconds in the microwave before adding to the food processor.   

Sesame oil is always in my Asian pantry, so I didn't have to go buy tahini.  I love the intense flavour of sesame oil, so you only need a little. 

This recipe is very flexible. You can use tahini instead of sesame oil, add more or less of any ingredient to your taste.  You may try a few cloves of roasted garlic first and taste as you go.  That's how I ended up adding up to 2 heads of roasted garlic!  Once made, the cumin and sesame flavours are pretty strong, but after a few hours, everything mellows nicely. 

Meyer Lemon, Roasted Garlic and Sun-dried Tomato Hummus

1- 19oz can chickpeas or 2 1/4 cups cooked chickpeas

2 heads of roasted garlic*, or 14 roasted garlic cloves

1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 to 1 1/2 tsp cumin powder

1/4 tsp sesame oil 

juice and zest of 1 Meyer lemon (about 2-3 Tbsp juice)

2 diced sundried tomatoes, packed in olive oil

2-4 Tbsp water, only add until thickness is desired

1/4 tsp kosher salt, or to taste

Place all ingredients except water into a food processor or blender.  Blend until desired texture.  Add water in small increments until desired thickness.  

Serve with your favourite veggies, pita bread, chips, crackers, as a spread, in a wrap or in a sandwich.  

*To roast garlic, cut 1/4"-1/2" off the tops of the garlic bulbs and place them together on a large piece of aluminum foil.  Drizzle a couple of teaspoons over all the heads and wrap them up tightly in a nice neat package.  Roast them for 35-40 min at 400F.  

Enjoy!

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