Spice It UP!!! Garlic

I don't know why it's taken me this long to write a Spice It UP!!! on garlic.....  That probably should have been my first!  I so love garlic; I eat it all the time.  In fact, I use it in about 90% of the recipes that I make (barring desserts that is!).

{GARLIC!!!!}

Garlic is truly a herb of the world, but it seems to have originally came from central Asia. Garlic is mentioned in several ancient texts from the Egyptians, Greeks, Indians, and Chinese as late as 3000 BC.  It was seen more as a medicine than food.  Today, garlic is grown in tropical and temperate regions around the world.  (source)

Garlic has several health benefits.  Garlic contains a large amount of sulfur which is necessary in the human body to dilate blood vessels, keep blood pressure under control, and prevent blood from clotting together easily reducing the risk of stroke.  It can even help your cholesterol!  Garlic also has anti-inflammatory and anti-fungal/bacterial/viral properties.  Another mineral in garlic, selenium, has an important part in our anti-oxidant system.  (source)  I've seen a few websites that state if you rub garlic on cuts, scrapes, pimples, etc, it heals much faster without infection.  I don't know about you, but I don't want to smell like raw garlic....  So maybe if the apocolypse came, you can use garlic since there won't be any hospitals....

Choose garlic with dry skins and plump, firm cloves.  Store fresh garlic in an open container in a cool, dark place. Unbroken bulbs can be stored up to 8 weeks, but once broken from the bulb, individual cloves will keep 3-10 days.  (source)

Now for the fun part--recipes!  Since I use garlic in just about everything, I picked my favorites!

Garlic and Brown Sugar Chicken
Garlic and Parmesan Roasted Cauliflower
Garlic Rosted Chicken with Gravy
Garlic Scape Pesto
Hummus
Peeling Garlic (quick how-to)
Middle Eastern Garlic Chicken
Rice Noodles with Peanut-Lime Sauce
Roasted Garlic

Do you like garlic?  I'd love to hear your favorite garlic recipe!

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