Garlic is a flavor powerhouse that brings the simplest foods to life—brushed with butter onto crusty slices of French bread, tossed into fresh pasta, and folded into creamy mashed potatoes. It is a staple ingredient that finds its way into our favorite everyday dishes. For thousands of years garlic has been touted for its health benefits, which range from boosting the immune system to reducing high blood pressure and heart disease. Many cultures have home remedies for the common cold using garlic, whether it’s used in chicken soup cooked with garlic, a hot drink made with crushed garlic, or even eating raw whole cloves (watch that breath!) which I do in every salad I make .
- Nutritional value. It’s chock full of nutrients like vitamin C, vitamin B6, Manganese, and Fiber.
- Anti-inflammatory. Garlic extract or garlic supplements can be taken daily to reduce inflammation and cholesterol levels
- Anti-bacterial. You can also use garlic as a topical, anti-fungal agent.
- Antioxidant. Garlic’s antioxidant properties fight free radicals and cancer cells, and are particularly effective as a preventative measure against colon cancer.
My Favorite GARLIC RECIPE:
Preparation Time: 5 min. / TOTAL TIME: 1 hr 5 min. / COOK TIME: 1 hr
Ingredients: 2 heads of garlic / Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling / Kosher salt
- Preheat oven to 400 °F.
- Slice the top of each garlic bulb and drizzle with olive oil and a pinch of salt. Wrap loosely in aluminum foil.
- Roast garlic bulbs, cut-side up on a baking sheet for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until golden brown and tender. Remove from oven, unwrap, and let cool for 5 minutes.
- To extract individual cloves, squeeze from the bottom of the clove towards the top of the garlic head until the clove comes out.
- Use roasted garlic cloves immediately as a spread on toast, in mashed potatoes, and more. Store leftovers in a container filled with olive oil in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. Garlic oil can be used to make salad dressing.