[Veggies All Year] Garlic

Celebrate veggies all year long with a new vegetable each week! This week, we're highlighting garlic.

Here's another super versatile veggie like onions and bell peppers ~ garlic! Garlic goes in every single non-dessert dish I make. The only time it doesn't is if I don't have garlic in my kitchen, and that's happened like one time in the past 4 years. Plus, I have an industrial sized container of garlic powder. So yeah, my recipes are never lacking in garlic.

And with good reason. Garlic is so flavorful and delicious. Dishes without garlic are a little bit sad and boring in my opinion, and who wants sad and boring food? Not me

I am loving all these versatile veggies that are full of health promoting compounds.

Even though garlic {and onions and cauliflower and mushrooms} aren't vibrantly colored, they still have tons of nutritious qualities. Just let my friend Marisa Moore tell you that Winter Whites are in on CNN, and then let's learn all about garlic!

Garlic Nutrition:

*1 tablespoon minced garlic {about 3 cloves} has 13 calories, 0g fat (0g saturated fat), 1.5mg sodium, 3g carbohydrates, 0.2g fiber, 0.6g protein, 5% Vitamin C, 6% Vitamin B6, 8% Manganese

Garlic Fun Facts:

*Garlic has antibacterial and anti-fungal properties.

*Garlic contains sulfur which acts as both an anti-oxidant {fighting free radicals that can cause cancer, disease, etc.} and anti-inflammatory {fighting damaging inflammation} in the body.

*Like onions, chopping/mincing/crushing garlic before using helps release their sulfur containing compounds. The enzymes from the air help break them down and make them more accessible for your body to absorb.

*There are over 300 types of garlic known, but there are only about three or four commonly found in stores.

*Garlic is easily produced year-round, with China being the largest garlic-growing continent.

*The smaller you chop garlic, the more intense the flavor will be; larger garlic cloves will have less-intense flavor. Raw garlic will be more intense in flavor {and have more of the sulfur containing compounds}; cooking it will make the flavor more mild.

Garlic Tips:

*When shopping for garlic, buy tightly packed cloves that are blemish free. Do not buy garlic with green sprouts; it means it's likely old.

*One head of garlic has about 16 cloves. One clove of garlic is about one teaspoon of minced garlic.

*Store garlic in a cool, dry place for up to 2 months. Do not keep in the refrigerator! If your garlic starts sprouting green shoots, it is likely past its prime. The cloves will be stronger and a little more bitter. Cut off any brown spots and slice the clove down the middle. Remove the green shoots out of the middle of the garlic and mince as normal -- this should help lessen that bitter flavor.

*It's best to let your garlic sit for a few minutes after chopping/crushing/mincing, so the sulfur containing compounds have time to react with the air.

*Don't discard your garlic skins -- save them in the freezer to toss in your broth. They add lots of flavor and have similar health benefits as garlic cloves.

*Garlic can easily burn, so don't cook on really high heat for long. It takes about 30-60 seconds for garlic to cook over medium/medium-high heat. Burned garlic can ruin a dish, so toss burned garlic and start over.

I stir in my garlic after the onions, bell peppers, etc. have sautéed. Then I add in the garlic and stir constantly for 30 seconds until I smell that tell-tale garlic flavor. Then I add the other recipe ingredients. This helps bring out the garlic flavor without burning the garlic.

Garlic Recipes: