Garlic Bread: How to Win Dinner and Not Overwhelm People (with your breath)

I use garlic bread to bribe my kids to eat new foods, and also to make sure that they eat enough so they don't ask for a second dinner at 8pm.

We eat a lot of garlic bread, but I hate garlic breath. There's little I hate more than when I curl up with my kids for nighttime books and, even though everyone has brushed their teeth, I want to ask everyone to stop breathing because I cannot stand the smell.

This used to be a regular occurrence until I came up with a trick that makes garlic-bread- breath much less lethal and, frankly makes garlic bread even tastier: microwave your garlic! When you microwave the garlic with the butter it cooks the garlic a tiny bit, making it sweeter and less pungent. With this recipe for garlic bread you'll win dinner and your breath won't ruin the rest of your evening.

About Bread Choice:

I've found that a slightly less crusty (this does not mean soggy or floppy) baguette works best. The par backed ones (like they sell at Trader Joes) work well here, just make sure to finish baking your bread BEFORE you try to turn it into garlic bread. Do not try and substitute the high heat of the broiler for the actual baking of the bread.

About Cleanup:

For zero clean up you can line your sheetpan with tinfoil. I don't like to make extra waste, so I simply assemble my garlic bread on a cutting board then putt the bread on a pan to bake. This reduces the amount of butter and cheese that gets spilled on my pan.

Garlic Bread to Win Dinner

Time: 10 minutes. 1 baguette serves 8-10

Ingredients

1 baguette

1 stick of salted butter

3 medium cloves of garlic

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1/4 teaspoon dried thyme (optional)

1 ounce (about 1/2 cup) finely shredded parmesan

black pepper to taste

STEP ONE

Position your oven rack about 6 inches away from the broiler. You can set it lower or higher, but then you'll have to really pay attention to cook time. Turn broiler to high to preheat.

STEP TWO

Carefully slice baguette in half and then cut it in half horizontally so you havel four open face sides of bread (see photo above). Set baguette aside.

STEP THREE

Cut stick of butter into 2 tablespoon chunks and put them in a microwave safe bowl. Crush or mince your garlic and add it to the butter. Cover your microwave safe bowl with plastic wrap or a small microwavable plate (to prevent butter spatter in the microwave). Microwave for 30 second bursts until butter is melted. Add dried oregano, dried thyme, and ground pepper to melted butter and garlic. Stir to combine.

STEP FOUR

Spoon butter mixture evenly over all four pieces of baguette. Next, sprinkle cheese evenly over top the bread. Place bread on a cookie sheet and put in the oven for about 2-3 minutes. Check on it after the first minute because time will vary depending on your broiler and the distance your garlic bread is from the heat. When the cheese melts and gets toasty on top remove from oven.

Allow to cool for 1 minute and then slice and serve immediately.

Pistachio-Sunfower Dukkah Nut Blend

Do you remember a few summers ago when everyone was sprinkling chili powder, salt and lime on top of fruit? At first it was delicious, but by the time you got to the bottom of the bowl I found it was kinda joyless. In my humble opinion adding Dukkah to melon is better than chili-lime. It's better because Dukkah (an Egyptain spice/nut blend) will give you a more complex flavor that does just taste like heat and add great texture. I eat it on pretty much everything. It's fantastic on melon, eggs, salads, meat, avocado toast, yogurt and smoked salmon. I eat so much more fruit when I have this to sprinkle on top. And once you know the ratios of nuts to salt and spice you can experiment with your own blend.

This is not an authentic Egyptian dukkah. There are plenty of Dukkah recipes out there from people who are "in the know" and grew up eating Dukkah (For instance: Mediterranean Dish or Amira's Pantry). What I did with my Dukkah nut-spice blend is create something easy with a coarser texture that will give you a good crunch and spice level. Most of the Dukkah recipes out there are about the same, but with different peppers for spice (although usually cayenne or black pepper) and different types of nuts (pistachios, peanuts, or hazelnuts). I borrowed Brandon Skier's suggestion in "Make it Fancy" to incorporate sunflower seeds into the blend, and I really like the texture and flavor of the sunflower seeds, as well as the extra bulking up of the blend that they provide.

ABOUT TOASTED NUTS/SEEDS:

If you can only find roasted pistachios, roasted sunflower seeds or sesame seeds, then just grab those. I sometimes have trouble finding raw sunflower seeds and I often use the pre-roasted ones. They're not quite as flavorful, but they'll absolutely work.

Pistachio-Sunflower Dukkah

Takes 30 minutes to make. Optional: food processor

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 cup (85 grams) un-roasted and unsalted pistachios

1/2 cup (40 grams) raw sunflower seeds

2 tablespoons untoasted sesame seeds

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4-1/2 teaspoon ground Aleppo pepper

2/4 teaspoon flaked sea salt (the fancy stuff)

STEP ONE

Set your oven to 350 degrees and spread your pistachios and sunflower seeds out on a sheet pan that has a lip. Roast pistachios and sunflower seeds for 4 minutes, then turn them in the pan and sprinkle the sesame seeds on the pan as well. Return pan to the oven and roast for another 3 minutes. Carefully try a pistachio seed and look at your other seeds to see if they are roasted yet. They may need 1-2 minutes more. When your seeds begin to take on a golden hue and start to smell remove the pan from the oven. Make sure you don't over toast them or they will taste bitter. Set pan aside and allow seeds to cool for 5 minutes.

STEP TWO

WITH A FOOD PROCESSOR: add seeds and nuts to processor bowl and then pile 1 teaspoon ground coriander, 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin and 1/4-1/2 teaspoon ground Aleppo pepper on top. Pulse ingredients until pistachios have a corse chop. You want texture here, not powdered nuts. pour mixture into a bowl and toss in the flaked sea salt.

BY HAND: spread seeds and nuts out on a cutting board and chop until most of your pistachios and sunflower seeds have been chopped into coarse pieces. Transfer contents into a bowl, sprinkle cumin, coriander and Alleppo pepper and salt on top. Stir to combine.

Dukkah will last for several weeks in an airtight container.

Sparkling Strawberry Slushies

I predict that this four ingredient slushy is going to be the drink of Hot Protest Summer, 2025. You're going to need to cool off after you march, call your senators, and hug your neighbors, and this drink is the best.  Slushies made with real fruit are incredible, and these Sparkling Strawberry Slushies are perfection. All that it takes to make this drink next level is seltzer!--giving you that bubbly kick you can almost pretend is the champaign we'll no longer be able to afford.

My family loves to pick strawberries and if we cannot use them all right away I clean them and freeze them to make these slushies. So, when strawberry season hits, we always load up the freezer. That said, this recipe also works great with frozen berries from the grocery store.

Note About Sugar: You can add as little or as much sugar as you like to make the your heart sing strawberry songs in the sunshine. I have found that freshly picked strawberries need about 0-1 tablespoon of sugar. Grocery store strawberries (frozen at home or pre frozen) usually need 2-3 tablespoons of sugar for peak berry taste.

Sparkling Strawberry Slushies

Makes 4 small or 2 large slushies. Takes 5 minutes to make.

Special tools: high power blender

Ingredients

1 pound frozen strawberries (roughly 3 and 1/2 cups)

24 ounces (2 cans) plain seltzer

1-3 tablespoons sugar

1/2 lime

Optional mint sprigs or lime wedges to garnish

STEP ONE

Add frozen strawberries, 2 cans of seltzer, juice of 1/2 a lime, and 1 tablespoon sugar to the blender. Run blender on low to start and work towards medium high. When there are no more large chunks, taste the pure and add more sugar as needed, making sure to pulse blender after you add additional sugar.

STEP TWO

Portion slushies into glasses and add desired garnish. Enjoy right away.