Summer salsa season is just around the corner! I can’t even tell you how excited I am to have fresh tomatoes, jalapeños, and tomatillos from our garden again. I really thought spring was my favorite season, but tomato season just might rival it.

If you’re planning on making pico de gallo or guacamole or anything else with cilantro in it this summer, you should know the best way to store this delicious herb. If you’re skilled enough to grow cilantro in your own garden, well…tell me your secrets! I’ve tried growing it in containers with absolutely no success and this year in our raised bed garden with very little success – I haven’t figured it out yet.

If you can grow cilantro, you’re lucky enough to be able to pick a few sprigs as you need. If you purchase your cilantro from the grocery store on the other hand, you’ve probably tried placing that mass of leafy greens into your vegetable drawer only to discover them getting yucky a few days later. There’s a better way to store those pretty green leaves!

As soon as you get home from the grocery store, remove your cilantro from the produce bag, remove any wilted leaves (you can use them in your compost), use a pair of scissors or a sharp knife to cut an inch or so off all the stems, and place them in a glass or jar of fresh water. Keep the jar on a shelf in your fridge. If you change the water every other day or so, it’ll last even longer!

Tim and I are the kind of people who sit down to eat our dinner, take a few bites, and then start running through ideas of what we would want to do differently next time. I noticed it last night as we were devouring fish tacos with cilantro lime slaw and our favorite mango salsa. Lately our nights of actually spending time cooking delicious dinners have been few and far between, so this was a treat!

I started laughing at ourselves as we began imagining Tim’s mango salsa recipe made with peaches or grilled pineapple instead, wishing we’d added more heat to the slaw, and wondering if we could learn how to beer-batter our own fish rather than buying the kind out of the frozen food aisle.

This sort of criticism for us isn’t done in a negative way to pick apart our meal (and we would never dream of doing it at a friend’s house – please keep inviting us over, friends! We only critique our own cooking!) Instead, for us, this is a part of the creative process. We know what all went into our dinner, we’re genuinely enjoying what we’ve made, and we’re just dreaming of how we could re-create it, and maybe make it better in the future!

There are definitely times when critique is merited, however. When I’ve added too much thyme to the soup (it’s always too much thyme!) Or put entirely too much salt into a salsa. Or the days when I make a recipe that’s a complete flop – and we muscle our way through it, only to HAVE to throw the leftovers away when they’re still in the fridge weeks later. Or, heaven forbid, the times I burn the garlic bread – I’m notorious for burning the garlic bread!

We had a few of my college roommates over one weekend and I pointed to my friend while placing the garlic bread under the broiler, “When that timer goes off in one minute, make sure I take the bread out.” She looked at me incredulously, “Are you serious?” “Um. Completely.” I wasn’t sure how to tell her that I’m immune to the cry of the kitchen timer any time it involves garlic bread in the oven. Really and truly. Little burnt garlic breads haunt me in my nightmares.

Well, I’m here to tell you that I think I’ve discovered the secret to amazing garlic bread. Psssst – you should roast your garlic! It’s sweet heavenly deliciousness. Mash up a several cloves of this garlic with a pinch or two of kosher salt to create a paste, slather some butter and your garlic paste onto the bread, sprinkle on a little cheese, place it under the broiler for a minute or so – and voila! I will not promise I’ve discovered the secret to not burning your garlic bread, but if you can manage that one yourself, you’re on your way to a delicious dinner!

You’ll find more ideas for using your newly-found-garlic-roasting-talents below the recipe!

How to: Make Roasted Garlic

Adapted from How Sweet It Is

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 5 mins

Cook Time 45 mins

Total Time 50 mins

Ingredients

  

• 3-4 heads of garlic or more
• 3-4 tsp olive oil about 1 tsp oil per head of garlic

Instructions

 

• Heat your oven to 375 degrees F
• Carefully cut the top off each head of garlic. You want to expose most of the cloves of garlic. Peel away a bit of the papery outside and place the heads of garlic in a small baking dish. Drizzle each head of garlic with a tsp or so of olive oil. Cover with aluminum foil, bake for around 45 minutes, or until golden and delicious looking!
• Remove from the oven, carefully remove the aluminum foil, and let rest till they're cool enough to handle. You can squeeze the cloves of garlic from the bottom up to remove them. Use in a recipe, spread on buttered toast, or store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a few days.

Now that you’ve learned how to roast garlic, it’s time to put that knowledge to good use! Here are a few recipes to try!

Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes from The Pioneer Woman

Roasted Garlic Hummus from Cooking Classy

Roasted Garlic Rosemary Artisan Bread from Fabtastic Eats

Roasted Garlic Butter from Whipperberry

Roasted Garlic Blender Salsa from Mountain Mama Cooks