Three New Ways to Use Garlic

By Erica H.

Okay everyone, time to get serious about this Halloween thing. Soon the hordes of wee ghosts and ghouls will come knocking on your door, and...I can't help you with that, although I find that they generally respond well to name-brand candy bars. What I can help you with is generating some top-notch vampire-repellant this season. You can't be too safe! Here are three strategies beyond my general advice to always triple the amount of garlic called for in any given recipe.

1. Add a layer of roasted garlic to pizza. (Or sandwiches, bagels, burritos, donuts, etc.) I got this idea from Sugar Cooking's recipe for Roasted Garlic Chicken Pesto Pizza. Just roast a whole head of garlic:

Smush it up:

Spread it all over any surface that could use a deliciousness upgrade.

2. Mix garlic with salt and Greek yogurt for an intense and unusual condiment.

That dollop above is decorating some skillet-baked eggs with spinach and spiced butter, though I imagine it would enhance any number of egg dishes. Or even non-egg dishes, if you're into that sort of thing.

3. Soooooooooooooooup!

Smitten Kitchen's 44-clove garlic soup proves that garlic can hold its own as the star of the meal. I should note that when I described this recipe a couple of years ago, I was concerned that it was "not garlicky enough by a long shot." That probably makes it perfect as is for the average person, but if you have a palate like mine and/or live in a high-traffic area for vampires, you might want to follow my "joking" recommendation to, you know..triple it.