Hello. My name is Rainne, and I’m a garlicaholic.

I LOVE garlic. I would eat it in every meal of the day – and often have. I like it in garlic-flavored oils, garlic powder, roasted, chopped, minced, sauteed, spread on bread…any way I can get it. I eat so much garlic that I can sometimes smell it seeping out of my pores. I buy it from Costco, pre-peeled and ready to use.

So, imagine my satisfaction when I learned just how good garlic is for you, nutritionally. It’s one of those foods that is so good for you that you really can eat as much as you want…as long as your family can stand the smell of it on your breath. It helps fight cholesterol. It boosts the immune system. It helps fight infection. It helps thin blood. Here’s one I didn’t know: eat a couple of cloves a garlic a day (chop them up and swallow them like pills) when you feel a cold coming on, and you might not get sick. It also acts as a decongestant.

It’s also available in an odorless supplement, if you’re worried about garlic breath.

Here are some articles I found on the benefits of garlic.

It’s most beneficial when eaten raw, but all forms of garlic, even the dried powder, have some health benefits. I often roast it; when roasted, it’s got a fabulously buttery, nutty flavor. I often eat whole roasted cloves as snacks, just popping them like candy. Here’s how I roast them:

If you have a head of garlic, slice the top off to expose the cloves. If you have whole, peeled cloves, you don’t need to prep them. Place the garlic (cut side up, if it’s the whole head) in an oven-safe dish, and drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, and pop into a 375 degree oven for half an hour. That’s it. If you roasted the whole head, you can squeeze the garlic out of each of the cloves. If you roasted the peeled cloves, use them as-is. Toss them in pasta, add them to hummus, eat them like candy, spread them on toasted bread…they’re absolutely delicious.

Got any good garlic recipes to share?

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