Roast Garlic
The last few illnesses I have suffered have been very mild, a fact I attribute to God’s blessing through rest and roasted garlic. A bit of the common cold has been chasing through our household, and the kitchen has more than once been redolent of an Italian restaurant. (We’re roasting garlic and sauteing onion poultices.) Here is a tastier way to enjoy the medicinal benefits of garlic without burning yourself with a fresh clove or swallowing pills that stay with you for a week. (Forget deodorized oils. If you don’t stink, it isn’t working.)
Roast Garlic
Take a full bulb of garlic and peel away the papery outer layers, leaving the skins of the cloves intact. With a sharp knife, cut off 1/4-1/2” from the top so that the tops of each clove are exposed. Place the bulb in a small oven-proof dish (perhaps several in a muffin tin). Pour a bit of olive oil over it and use your fingers to coat the entire bulb. Roast for 30-35 minutes in an oven preheated to 400 degrees Fahrenheit, or until the garlic is golden brown and the cloves have begun to slip from their skins.
You can eat the garlic straight, as I often do. You might also mash and spread it on a thin slice of home-made bread. The garlic flavor is indeed strong, but without the raw burn of fresh cloves. I was asked whether fresh garlic was not more medicinally beneficial. An article from Live Strong does maintain that any cooking will “break down” the allicin that is a likely source of garlic’s medicinal benefits.* But my gastrointestinal tract isn’t lined with rhinoceros skin, and raw garlic won’t have any medicinal benefit if I won’t eat it. I find roasted garlic quite tolerable—more palatable and gentle. The immediate improvement of symptoms has always been very clear in my case.
*This is edited to say that I found an eHow article and another Live Strong article that suggests chopping and roasting garlic “for a short period” releases (makes available) the compounds that make garlic so beneficial. It is evident that more research is needed before making any definitive statement. Is breaking down the allicin ruining it or making it useful?
The roast garlic in these illustrative photographs demonstrates its continued efficacy in the event that you neglect to remove the excess “paper.” ;-) I still felt better after I ate it. I think it looked pretty too.
Friday, April 6, 2012