April is national garlic month!! You may be wondering what even is garlic? Well, garlic is a part of the Allium (onion) family, it is closely related to onions, shallots, and leeks. Each segment of a garlic bulb is called a clove. There are about 10–20 cloves in a single bulb, give or take.
Garlic has a wide variety of health benefits. These health benefits are caused by sulfur compounds formed when a garlic clove is chopped, crushed, or chewed. Allicin is the most popular sulfur compound in garlic. However, it is only present in fresh garlic after it has been cut or crushed. Garlic is a great addition to any meal, it is low in calories and rich in vitamin C, vitamin B6, and manganese. It also contains trace amounts of various other nutrients that provide you with a little bit of everything. Garlic is also known to boost the function of your immune system! Multiple studies have found that groups that consume garlic are less likely to get a common cold compared to groups that did not.
To store your garlic, it is best to store it in the pantry. Like tomatoes!! Heads of garlic do best in a cool, moderately humid environment. You can also buy tubes of pressed garlic or little jars of chopped garlic stored in oil, both of which should be refrigerated once opened. As most know, garlic is a very versatile vegetable, it can be used in almost any meal! Check out your local grocery store for whole garlic, garlic cloves, minced, garlic, or even garlic powder.
We have included the recipe for our Chicken Pesto Wrap that contains garlic cloves!
Ingredients (serves 4):
- 4 teaspoon Olive Oil
- 1 1⁄3 Garlic cloves
- 2⁄3 teaspoon Dried Basil
- 2⁄3 pound Boneless Chicken
- 1⁄2 cup Basil leaves, fresh
- 4 teaspoon Parmesan Cheese
- 2⁄3 teaspoon Water
- 2⁄3 teaspoon Lemon Juice
- 1⁄3 cup cream cheese
- 4 Tortilla Wraps
Directions:
- Bake chicken at 350 degrees, rub the chicken with minced garlic clove, 1 tbsp olive oil, and dried basil
- Add the remaining oil, fresh basil leaves, Parmesan cheese, water, lemon juice, whole garlic clove, and cream cheese to the bowl of your food processor and process until minced together into a pesto paste.
- Lay a wrap on a clean surface and spoon about 3 tbsp of pesto onto the center of each, add 1/3 sliced chicken breast, roll up into a wrap.
