There are a lot of oddly specific food holidays out there — for example, did you know that today is National Garlic Day?While that might sound odd to some, we think that garlic rightfully deserves the spotlight! Our love of garlic is strong and it has been an important part of culinary history for centuries. Garlic wasalso traditionallyused as a medicinal herb throughout recorded history.Ancient Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, and others all used garlic for its supposed medicinal benefits.
Garlic poultices were once used to prevent wound infections in soldiers, and the microbiologist Louis Pasteur demonstrated that garlic could kill bacteria. Today, garlic offers protection against many infections including bacterial, viral,andfungal via a compound called allicin. In order to stimulate the release of the enzyme alliinase, fresh garlicmust be crushed or chopped.
While boosting the immune system might be its biggest claim to fame, garlic has other notable benefits. It’s packed with phytochemicals, saponin, and coumaric acid, which have shown help fight heart disease. It’s also high inantioxidants, specifically vitamin C, manganese, and selenium.
If you want to keep your immune system up to par, fight heart disease or perhaps you want to feel closer to the Ancient Greens for some reason — eat garlic and eat it often. These 15 delicious garlicky recipes will help get you started!
1. Roasted Garlic Miso and Greens Soup
Roasted Garlic Miso and Greens Soup will be the new “chicken soup” in terms of healing and building the immune system when you are feeling under the weather. The real trick is to keep from getting sick in the first place…adding this to your diet may be good preventative medicine. Garlic, miso, and greens are all super foods to help maintain and restore your body’s immune system.
2. Roasted Garlic Cheese Fritters
These Roasted Garlic Cheese Fritters are made with just five ingredients made in only three easy steps. Made from chickpeas,these fritters are also grain-free and can be made oil-free on top of being delicious. These are flavorful, easy, tasty, cheesy, hearty, garlicky, and cheesy.
3. Fiery Garlic Tofu
Do you like your food spicy? Fiery Garlic Tofuisn’t the kind of dish where the spiciness builds gradually, like a slow burn — this one starts off strong, thanks to the addition of red chili peppers. Of course, there’s more to this dish than just heat; it’s seasoned with garlic, pepper, ginger, sesame oil, and a brown sugar glaze, to round it all out.
4. Chili-Garlic Potatoes and Cauliflower With Turmeric
Chili-Garlic Potatoes and Cauliflower With Turmeric is an adapted Indian recipe thatis packed with healing spices and herbs such mustard seed, cumin seed, turmeric, and garlic.It’s delicious by itself, alongside some sautéed greens or with another curry dish, like Masoor Dal.
5. Garlic Knots With Beer Cheese
Warm, doughy garlic knows speckled with smoky Shiitake bacon and served with a side of creamy beer cheese … what could be better? The Garlic Knots With Beer Cheese are cooked in a cast-iron skillet so they look like pull-apart bread, which makes for an awesome presentation. This appetizer is guaranteed to be a sure-shot hit at any party.
6. Creamy Garlic and Thyme Rigatoni With Roasted Cauliflower
This Creamy Garlic and Thyme Rigatoni With Roasted Cauliflower dish is warm, cozy, and oh-so-perfect for the fall and winter season. Thick rigatoni pasta is tossed in a cream sauce made from almond milk and olive oil and seasoned with thyme and plenty of minced garlic. Roasted cauliflower adds a nice smokey balance to the dish. Enjoy it as is, or feel free to add some more veggies to add some more nutrition and color.
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7. Baked Indonesian Chili Garlic Fries
These Baked Indonesian Chili Garlic Fries are probably the simplest, most delicious fries that will ever be made in your kitchen. They’re spicy, crispy, crunchy, and yet soft all on the inside! They’re tossed with sambal oelek, also known as Indonesian chili fries, for a unique flavor. Soaking the potatoes in water just before baking them unlocks the secret to the most perfectly crispy fries ever.
8. Burnt Garlic Eggplant
This recipe tosses cube-sized eggplant pieces in a delicious marinade made with burnt garlic, sesame oil, soy sauce, and scallions. Tender, protein-rich, and oh so very flavorful, this Burnt GarlicEggplant is a tasty addition to a variety of dishes. Serve it over a bed of brown rice, add it to a stir-fry or serve with microgreens for a light, healthy dinner.
9. Roasted Garlic and Chickpea Pizza
This incredibly flavorful Roasted Garlic and Chickpea Pizza boasts whole roasted garlic, a creamy garlic aioli, and garlicky sautéed chickpeas and artichokes … notice a trend here? It also has sun-dried tomatoes, kalamata olives, and fresh arugula, to round things out flavor-wise. Bake this until golden brown and crisp, top with arugula and more aioli right before serving, and you are all ready to enjoy a classy pizza night.
10. Garlic Zucchini and Beet Noodle Salad
For a visually striking touch to your table, include this beautiful spiralized Garlic Zucchini and Beet Noodle Salad at your next get together. The vivid color of the deep dark red beet spirals, the refreshing green and decorative cilantro leaves, and the slightly beet-stained pink zucchini noodles make it visually appealing and appetizing to the eye. It’s fresh, garlicky, and light.
11. Baked Garlic Herb Shoestring Rutabagas
Give rutabagas the place they deserve at your dinner table with this sweet, savory, and nutritious side dish that’s a breeze to make. Baked Garlic Herb Shoestring Rutabagas are simply spiralized, doused in a delicious garlic herb oil, and set to bake. Sprinkle some nutritional yeast flakes on this dish for some added cheesy goodness!
12. Wild Garlic Pesto Snails
These Wild Garlic Pesto Snails are super easy to make and awesomely delicious. They are flaky and super garlicky! They are the perfect finger-food snack for parties and super easy to make! Oh, and, by the way, they look cute!
13. Chinese Garlic Oil Lettuce
Most of us are so used to having lettuce in saladbut in Asia, there are dishes where it is cooked in oil and served as a side. In this quick recipe, Chinese Garlic Oil Lettuce is blanched, then scalded in garlic-infused peanut oil. It takes just 5 minutes to make, so if you’re on the lookout for a quick side to make or a new way to eat your veggies, give this recipe a try!
14. Roasted Garlic and Yam Burgers
Get out of your veggie burger rut with this fragrant and flavorful patty! A Roasted Garlic and Yam Burger that is baked instead of fried, studded with salty almonds, and laced with fragrant strands of roasted garlic. Wedged in a sourdough bun with curried vegan mayo or tahini sauce and a bit of Sriracha, this burger is deliciously unique.
15. Garlic Broccoli With Coco-Peanut Sauce
This simple sauce of peanuts and coconut milk is draped over tender garlic broccoli creating a perfect union of savory flavors. Garlic Broccoli With Coco-Peanut Sauce one of those dishes that comes together so quickly, you may feel unsure you included all the ingredients. But worry not, it really is that easy.
It’s tough to pick just one favorite, but we’ll leave it to you: which of these recipes do you like best?
Lead image source:Creamy Garlic and Thyme Rigatoni With Roasted Cauliflower
