Healthy Recipe: Roasted Garlic For Heart Health

*This post contains affiliate links. If you buy through them, I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.*

Jump to Recipe

Garlic is known as a highly medicinal plant and has been used by humans in this manner for centuries. Keeping the vampires away is not garlic's only claim to fame, it also is antifungal, antibacterial, and antiviral. It contains antioxidants and is revered as an anti-inflammatory. Plus, I haven't even mentioned how tasty it is yet!

Garlic is one of my favorite foods to cook with and the flavor can range from spicy to sweet depending on how you prepare it. This recipe is a slow roasted garlic that brings out the sweet flavor. It is so good that you could eat it by the spoonful.

Allicin is the sulfur compound in garlic that is best known for having health benefits. This compound is created when garlic is crushed or chopped which triggers an enzyme to convert the precursor alliin into allicin so that the body can benefit from it. Allicin is highest in fresh garlic because heat has not had an opportunty to denature the enzymes that convert the alliin to allicin. However, you can still get health benefits from cooked garlic. This roasted garlic still has antioxidant power and heart healthy benefits like lowering cholesterol and blood pressure. This is not medical advice, but the food we eat can only serve to help us if we are deliberate in our choices. Another bonus, is that roasted garlic, like in this recipe, tends to be easier on the stomach. But, honestly, the yum factor alone is well worth it!

RECIPE

Tools

• Aluminum Foil

• Sharp Knife

• Cooking Sheet (optional)

Ingredients

• at least one head of garlic (or two or three!)

• olive oil

• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 Degrees Fahrenheit (200 Celsius)

2. Remove any loose skin on the garlic but leave the rest.

3. Use a sharp knife to cut about 1/4 off the top of the garlic head (This is the end opposite the roots. Cut just enough to expose the cloves).

4. Place the head, cut side up, on aluminum foil and drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper if you desire.

5. Close the foil around the garlic head(s) loosely. I personally make it a peak at the top so the foil is like a handle to grab when I remove them from the oven.

6. Place the wrapped cloves on a cooking sheet or directly onto the oven rack (as long as your garlic bundle is big enough not to fall through).

7. Bake for 35-45 minutes depending on how brown you like the cloves. I personally don't like them to get very browned because the flavor can start to get bitter if you overcook. Check at 35 minutes and test one!

It is literally that easy! Roasted garlic is delicious to spread on bread or add to soups, pasta or really ANY dish. The roasted cloves that you don't eat right away can store in an airtight container in the refrigerator once it cools. TIP: if you are like me and think that cutting the top quarter of the garlic off feels wasteful, I have a suggestion.... I personally remove the rest of the skin from those pieces cut from the top of the garlic head and save them in a container in the refrigerator until i am ready to use fresh garlic for another dish. For me that means within a day or so. That way not one bit of this healing plant goes to waste!