By: Barb Keck

The link between food and health is often forgotten and the wonderful part about adding garlic to your food is it is so flavorful you forget it has preventative disease and medicinal healing properties.

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Garlic is one of the best sources of selenium, a nutrient noted by cancer researchers for its powerful antioxidant properties. From curing colds, and fighting cholesterol to cleansing toxins from your body; is it any wonder it is considered a miracle food? To learn more about it’s medicinal properties I recommend reading, Herbs for Common Ailments : How to Use Familiar Herbs, by Anne McIntyre.

Add Garlic to your food everyday – yes every day. Sound like a lot? You won’t think so once you discover a few favorite recipes. With these tips and ideas you will find yourself roasting garlic, adding it to cooked and non-cooked meals and yikes, even eating it raw!

Worried about smelling of garlic?

Although people who eat garlic on a regular basis do not reek of it, after a meal of eating it raw you will have garlic breath. To relieve garlic breath, chew on a sprig of parsley. If you are worried, stick to cooked garlic or garlic capsules.

Over the years I’ve discovered a variety of ways to use garlic in my daily meals, and have converted many people to the wonders of garlic as well. These ideas will turn your meals into tasty delights and gourmet dishes. If you are unaccustomed to garlic, start with smaller amounts until your taste buds get used to the new flavor.

Roasted Garlic

Excellent as a side dish served with a pepper jelly and added to recipes roasted garlic has become one of my gourmet favorites.

How to make it:

1. Cut off the top of the garlic bulb, exposing the flesh of each clove.
2. Pour 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil over the cloves.
3. Wrap in foil and bake in the oven at 375 for 1 hour.

Hints:

• Roast several at a time. Pinch the soft cooked clove from its shell and store in a container in your freezer to have ready for your next recipe.
• Choose large bulbs, elephant garlic works best.

Roasted garlic with meals you already love:

It’s so easy to include:

Just crush 1-2 cloves of garlic and stir it in.

Soups – Stir 2-3 cloves into potato soups, tomato based soups and pasta dishes.
Potatoes – Crush 1 clove per serving into mashed, fried and scalloped potato recipes.
Side dishes - Serve a whole roasted garlic bulb with pork dishes – especially pork chops. A whole roasted garlic will also compliment salad and casserole meals.

Hints:

• Roasted garlic introduces a nutty flavor
• Start with 1 clove per serving and adjust to your taste

Cooking with Garlic

Experimenting with garlic in my everyday cooking has me adding it to almost any dish.

Vegetables – The next time you steam your broccoli add a few cloves of garlic slivered during or after cooking and you won’t need all that salt and butter.
Stir Fry – Adding slivered, sliced or crushed garlic to any stir fry dish will only be complemented by it’s flavor.
Eggs – Add crushed to scrambled eggs, omelets, and quiches.
Roast Beef – Cut slits large enough to insert whole cloves of garlic and roast as usual.

Hints:

• Cooking garlic slowly in soups, stews and roasts mellows the garlic flavor.
• Take care when sautéing garlic, burning it will make it bitter.

Raw Garlic

Did we say raw? Yes, raw garlic is most effective in it’s natural form.

Try these easy and simple favorites:

Grill cheese sandwiches – thin slices spread on your cheese before grilling
Pasta garlic oil – slice garlic cloves up to 1 cup and mix with 1 cup of olive oil and cook over medium heat until soft and lightly browned – pour over pasta.
Juice – add crushed garlic to your vegetable juice.
Hummus – This chickpea spread is a tasty way to eat raw garlic, and you won’t even notice it’s raw.
Salads – Rub the side of a wooden bowl with raw garlic. When you toss the other ingredients in it your salad will have a hint of garlic.
Condiment - Some people actually eat them the same way they would eat pickles. I haven’t tried this one, yet!

Hints:

• Store garlic in a cool dry place with ventilation – not in the fridge.
• Avoid buying garlic with green sprouts

For more detailed information on Garlic’s powerful health properties we recommend reading: Herbs for Common Ailments : How to Use Familiar Herbs, by Anne McIntyre

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Read Barb Keck's Biography

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