April 19th is National Garlic Day, but you can celebrate it all month long, too, since April is National Garlic Month! But that’s not the only reason to celebrate this edible herb. Garlic has been an essential ingredient for cooks all over the world for hundreds of years, enhancing flavors for sauces, soups, stews, roasted meats and veggies… just about everything under the sun. It’s also used as a remedy for treating ailments from stomachaches to headaches. Garlic is an antibacterial, an antioxidant, and lore suggests that raw garlic rubs warts away, as well as keeping vampires at bay.
Health Benefits of Garlic
Garlic has a multitude of health benefits. Throughout ancient history, people widely used garlic for its health and medicinal properties. There is documented evidence of its use by many major civilizations, including the Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Chinese, and Indians.
Garlic is super low in calories and rich in vitamin C, vitamin B6, selenium, fiber, and manganese. It also contains trace amounts of various other nutrients. Garlic is also proven to reduce blood pressure, improve cholesterol levels, contains antioxidants that help prevent Alzheimer’s and dementia, can help detoxify heavy metals from your body, can improve athletic performance, and even fight common colds and the flu.
Scientists now know that most of garlic’s health benefits are due to the formation of sulfur compounds when you chop, crush, or chew a garlic clove. The sulfur compounds from garlic then enter your body from the digestive tract. They then travel all over your body, exerting strong biological effects.
How to Grow Garlic
Many people think of garlic as a vegetable, but it’s actually an edible herb! It is actually native to to Central Asia but as a member of the lily family, it’s super easy to grow because it’s so adaptable. According to finegardening.com, if you want to plant and grow some in your own herb garden, garlic is available in one of two strains, either hardneck or softneck. Hardneck garlic varieties, like Rocambole and Purple Stripe, are known for their flavor. Hardneck varieties produces a flower stalk called a scape, which can also be used in cooking. Hardneck is generally easier to peel and can be stored for 3-6 months.
Most cooks are familiar with softneck varieties, because these are the kind found in grocery stores and often used for braiding. Softneck varieties don’t produce a flower stalk, but are usually more productive than hardneck garlic. They can be stored for up to a year.
Garlic can be planted from fall to early spring, although hardneck varieties prefer to be in the ground during a cold winter. Garlic grows best in deep, fertile well-drained soil. To plant, separate the cloves from each bulb and place pointy end up 1-2 inches below the surface of the soil and about 3-4 inches apart. Mulch the area and keep the garlic moist. Garlic will be ready to harvest in summer when the flower stalks of hardneck garlic stand up straight or when the leaves of softneck garlic begin to turn yellow. Allow garlic to dry for several weeks before storing or using in your cooking.
Baking Garlic
Whether or not you decide to grow your own, garlic fans all know that baked garlic is to die for. Baking garlic slowly in the oven creates an irresistible fragrance in the kitchen, but if you’re pressed for time, garlic can be cooked in just minutes in a microwave oven. Serve as an appetizer with crackers or fresh crusty bread, perhaps with some baked brie? Yum!
Here’s a great baked garlic recipe from finegardening.com:
Baked Garlic Recipe
Ingredients
One or two whole garlic bulbs
Extra virgin olive oil
Dried herbs such as oregano or leaf thyme
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Peel the loose, papery skins off the outside of the bulbs.
- Slice about 1/4-inch off the top of each clove.
- Lightly drizzle each clove with olive oil.
- Sprinkle with the herb(s) of your choice.
- Place the bulbs in a garlic baker or wrap in foil and place in a baking dish. (Do not use a garlic baker or wrap in foil if cooking in the microwave.)
- Cover the garlic baker or close the top of the foil bundle.
- Bake for about 45 minutes.
- Remove garlic baker lid or carefully open foil.
- Return to the oven for an additional 10-15 minutes until the garlic is lightly browned.
- Cool slightly before serving.
- Squeeze entire garlic cloves from the skins and spread on bread or baguette slices or crackers.
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Photo Credit: Volodymyr Plysiuk / Shutterstock.com