Roasted Garlic and Garlic Oil

For thousands of years, people all over the world have been praising the wonderful restorative and immunity-boosting properties of garlic, once seen by our forefathers as the elixir of health and as a low-calorie immunity-boosting superstar. One clove of garlic contains around 12 mg of potassium, 5 mg of calcium and over 100 sulfuric compounds that can effectively fight bacterial infections. If you can get past its pungent smell, raw garlic is definitely the best one to eat, as it has been scientifically proven to lower blood pressure, fight cholesterol and kill parasites.

Here is a recipe for roasted garlic and garlic oil, two immunity-friendly must-haves in your summer kitchen. Use this low-calorie garlic mash to add flavor to anything from soups to stews to garlic bruschetta starters. The mash also works for grilled fish or chicken. The garlic oil can be used to replace olive oil in cooked or fresh dishes and salads, to roast tomatoes or grill vegetables.

What you need:

4 large garlic heads
3 cups olive oil
4 sprigs fresh rosemary / thyme
2 teaspoons black peppercorns

How you do it:

First of all, preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Then cut each garlic head into four without peeling the cloves and leaving the skins intact. Place the pieces of garlic in a casserole dish and pour enough olive oil to cover them, add the herbs and bake for about an hour until the cloves have softened and released their full flavor. Cool the mixture, then strain the garlic oil in a separate dish (a glass bottle for example) and store it at room temperature. Mash the garlic after removing the skins and place it in the fridge in an airtight container. It will hold for up to three weeks. Voila!