Simple Recipes to Use Leftover Garlic
This homemade vegetable salad with garlic (The Simple Veganista) combines cucumber, peppers, tomatoes, onion and garlic, in a homemade lemon Dijon mustard oil dressing.
Garlic can increase bleeding, so check medication if you have any medical conditions or are due for surgery.
Before cooking, read up on food safety for people and pets (many foods including garlic are unsafe near animal friends). Bin allium scraps (onion, leeks, garlic, shallots, chives) and citrus/tomato/rhubarb scraps, as acids could harm compost creatures. It’s okay to put them in food waste bins (made into biogas).
For tinned foods, fully remove lids (put inside) or pop ring-pulls back over holes (and pinch top opening closed) before recycling, to avoid wildlife getting trapped.
Vegan Garlic Bread
Vegan garlic bread is simple to make. Choose palm-oil vegan butter like Flora or Lurpak.
Garlic is one of England’s favourite vegetables, although it has more of a Mediterranean history (it does however grow in England, including on the Isle of Wight, where there is a famous garlic farm).
Garlic first arrived in England back in 1548, and was used to treat skin disease, cholera and even helped soldiers during the 1918 influenza epidemic. It fell out of favour until Victorian times, when people discovered French food.
Garlic bread – it’s the future. I’ve tasted it. Brian Potter, Phoenix Nights
How to Buy & Store Garlic
Soft-neck garlic is most common (elephant garlic is less strong – a type of leek).
Fortunately, garlic is one of the vegetables in supermarkets that often is not in plastic packaging, so try to buy it loose. Or visit a farm shop to buy organic garlic.
Farm shops are also more likely to sell wild garlic, which is milder in taste and delicious with pasta.
How to Prepare & Cook Garlic
Store fresh garlic in a cool dry place (not the fridge). You can chop garlic with a knife or if you’re not a natural chef, a good garlic press is a tool to last a lifetime.
How to Mince Garlic with a Knife
- First of all, invest in a good knife, that’s half the battle over!
- Once you’ve removed the skin and separated the garlic bulb into cloves, just hold the tip of your knife in one hand, and use the other to ‘rock’ the blade back and forth.
- If you prefer minced garlic, it’s best to use a garlic press (unless you’re a professional chef).
