Now You’re Cooking with Garlic!

Garlic is a plant in the allium family that is related to onions and it adds flavor to many dishes and recipes around the world. But did you know that garlic is good for you too?

Garlic has been used for centuries as a medicinal herb. In fact, the Greek physician Hippocrates prescribed garlic to treat many medical conditions, according to Healthline. That’s because garlic contains plant compounds, like allicin, that have proven health benefits, including helping to lower your blood pressure, reducing LDL (bad cholesterol), and preventing oxidative damage to your cells.

Here are seven healthy recipes that any garlic lover will enjoy. Try one today to reap the wellness benefits that garlic offers.

Oven Roasted Garlic

Roasting garlic in the oven fills your kitchen with a mouthwatering savory smell. But the best part is the taste! Cooked garlic has a sweet mellow taste without the pungent bite of raw garlic. This recipe from the Love & Lemons foodie blog is quite simple to do, just trim the top off of a garlic bulb, place in tin foil, add olive oil and salt and then bake. Use right away in your favorite dish, spread it on bread, or you can peel and freeze the roasted cloves.

Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Why eat plain mashed potatoes when you can eat creamy delicious garlic mashed potatoes instead?  The combination of red potatoes, butter, sour cream, milk,  and garlic from the Crème De La Crumb blog is too good to pass up. The recipe gives two ways to cook the potatoes, on the stove or in an instant pot, combine the ingredients and mash together. And then just add salt and pepper to taste and it is ready to serve.

Cheesy Garlic Bread

This delicious garlic bread recipe from The NYT Cooking blog can be made with thin baguettes, Italian loaves, and rustic sourdough. You will need your choice of bread, unsalted butter, garlic cloves, grated parmesan cheese, parsley, salt, and pepper. For an even cheesier garlic bread, you can put a slice of mozzarella cheese into each slice before baking.

Pickled Garlic

Many people enjoy pickled vegetables like cucumbers or tomatoes, but you probably have never tried pickled garlic. This recipe from Southern Living contains three easy steps. First cook four heads of garlic cloves (around 40), and put in a jar or other sealable container, then  make a brine out of water, white vinegar, salt, whole peppercorns, crushed red pepper, mustard seeds, fennel seeds, and last, pour the brine over the cloves. Store in your refrigerator and the pickled garlic can last up to four months.

Basil Pesto

Traditional pesto is made from basil, garlic, pine nuts, olive oil, and grated Parmesan cheese, but you can omit the cheese to make vegan pesto. This simple recipe from Love & Lemons is made in a food processor. Keep your homemade pesto in an airtight container in the fridge. Since pesto can be used as a dip, in a salad or pasta, or on roasted veggies, you might want to make a double batch.

Garlic Butter Shrimp

This simple and easy main dish from Southern Living only takes 20 minutes from prep to table. The recipe calls for 10 ingredients but all are essential. You will need chopped or grated garlic, shrimp – using fresh is best  but you can also use frozen – butter, olive oil, lemon juice, kosher salt, red pepper, and parsley. Add some Italian herbs to make shrimp scampi, or substitute sherry vinegar for lemon juice to make a Spanish version. Serve with bread or on top of pasta.

Garlic Confit

This recipe from bon appetit is a garlic lover’s dream. Comfiting is a French cooking  method that covers food in fat and then cooking until tender. When you cook duck or chicken, the fat comes from the meat but when you make a garlic confit, you have to add a healthy fat like grapeseed oil or olive oil. You will need three heads of peeled garlic cloves and oil. You can also add fresh rosemary or thyme and bake in the oven. You can use the confit as a spread for bread, mashed as a condiment for meat, or use the oil in marinades.