Over the short life span of Kitchen Therapy, I’ve used roasted garlic quite a few times. [ Roasted garlic + truffle oil mac n cheese, roasted garlic butter, roasted potatoes w lemon dill sauce, roasted rosemary + lemon potatoes]
Clearly, I am absolutely in love with garlic. I’m writing this post from bed as I am completely under the weather and it has been horrible to be this ghastly sick (fever, cough, cold, body pains).
To get back to the purpose of the post – roasted garlic – it is one of the best remedies to a common cold (real handy right now!)
Garlic is rather underrated, but is actually filled with much goodness for the soul. It is high in Allicin, which has a ton of health boosting properties, low in calories, but high in Vitamin C, B6 and Manganese. It is supposedly an aid to lower blood pressure, help with heart ailments and of course the common cold. The garlic has been used for centuries, mostly for health and medicinal means. The use of garlic has been well documented by civilisations such as the Egyptians, Babylonians, Greeks and the Chinese.
To roast garlic, is essentially to soften it within its skins, which lends to the sweetness, removing the pungency and creating an aromatic, bursting with flavour garlic cloves. I use this on just about anything and mixing with butter let’s it stay good for long, and is a quick shortcut to garlic bread (my personal favourite).
Roasting garlic is the easiest thing you will ever do in a kitchen. Simply cut the whole garlic in half, drizzle with olive oil, salt and herbs, wrap in foil and bake in an oven for a good 35-45 minutes. Once cooled, gently squeeze out the soft garlic and use on bread, salad dressing, butter, pasta, lentil dishes, potatoes, veggies… anything really.
