Roasted Garlic Recipe - Buttery Home Cooked Goodness

Garlic is an herb with a bad reputation because of the way it smells on one's breath. However, roasted garlic recipe transforms simple recipes to hot, delicious comfort food. Adding garlic to buttered bread, mashed potatoes, and simple pasta can make them taste instantly much better.

Garlic is often added to dishes in a powdered or a freeze dried chopped form. Sometimes it's even added after mashing fresh cloves to a paste, but the way to get garlic to really taste its best is to roast it by following a simple roasted garlic recipe. Entire cloves of garlic taste better than butter on bread when lightly oiled and then baked. The insides of the clove are transformed from a crunchy garnish into a rich cream which can be added to a variety of dishes. 

Recipe 

Mashed Potatoes with Roasted Garlic

Ingredients:

• 8 cloves garlic, peeled

• 1/4th cup farm fresh butter

• 6 large baking potatoes, peeled and cubed

• ½ cup milk

• 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

• 1/4th cup olive oil

• ½ teaspoon sea salt

• 1/4th teaspoon ground black pepper

• ½ teaspoon chives

• ½ cup sour cream

• 1/4th teaspoon onion powder

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Place the garlic cloves in a small baking dish after spraying with nonstick cooking oil. Drizzle the garlic cloves with olive oil, cover, and bake until golden brown. This will take about half an hour to 40 minutes. Boil a large pot of salted water. Add the potatoes and boil until they are tender but still firm. Drain them and place in a large mixing bowl. Add the roasted garlic, milk, butter, Parmesan cheese, sour cream, onion powder, and chives. Season with sea salt and black peppers.

Origin 

Garlic originates from a member of the lily family- it is the dried root of Allium Sativum. It originated in Central Asia but spread to other corners of the globe more than 5000 years ago, which is before the time of recorded history. The Greeks ate garlic because they thought it would give them strength and the Egyptians worshipped it and fed it to the workers building the Great Pyramid at Giza. They revered garlic so much that it wouldn't be surprising if they had already learned a roasted garlic recipe or two of their own even back then!

Benefits 

Garlic is a rich source of Selenium, which is an antioxidant and cancer fighting substance. Crushed and chopped garlic added into food can help fight acne because of the blood cleansing and antibiotic properties. 

People in the Far East and Mediterranean use garlic as a staple flavoring for many foods and the incidence of cardiovascular diseases in these regions are lower than in others. Garlic contains a compound called allicin, which fights off hydroxyl radicals. These prevent LDLs, which are the bad kind of cholesterol, from being oxidized. 

Garlic helps fight blood clots. The Journal of Hypertension published a series of clinical trials which showed that people who took garlic supplements had a decrease in blood pressure by 1 to 5%, which causes an exponential decrease in the chances of blood clots and strokes by 30-40% and a decrease in chances of heart disease by 20-25%. 

Although, this may not be enough to completely avoid heart problems, using a roasted garlic recipe to incorporate this herb into your home cooking will make an impact on your general well-being. It tastes so good that it can't hurt to try!