Discover the Health Benefits of these 5 National Garlic Day Recipes

April 19 is known to all (who read obscure holiday calendars) as National Garlic Day. Surprisingly, this day has no relation to California’s Gilroy Garlic Festival held in late July, which alliumphobes should avoid at all costs.

Despite the fact that it is referred to as a national holiday, there are no congressional records or presidential proclamations establishing this day as such. In fact, this is one of those extremely unknown holidays where the origin of the day is a mystery to everyone.

National Garlic Day promotes the many uses of garlic, which include more than just cooking and warding off non-glittery vampires. It also has many medicinal properties believed to provide protection against the common cold, the flu, Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, atherosclerosis, prostate cancer, colon cancer and rectal cancer.

The immune system booster in garlic is known as allicin, which is also the chemical that gives the herb its off-putting smell. When taken in high doses, the healing properties begin to take effect, reducing blood pressure and cholesterol levels, while also helping the body to fight against the ailments listed. Garlic is by no means a “miracle herb” though and may have little to no effect on some people’s health.

Adding more garlic to anyone’s diet is simple and inexpensive, so one might as well try out some new recipes that include this nutritional herb. We’ve featured several delectable recipes over the years, so let’s take a look at five of our favorite ones featuring garlic as a key ingredient.

Earlier this month we thumbed through Robyn Lea’s Dinner with Jackson Pollock: Recipes, Art & Nature and found a healthy take on a classic sweet bread, spinach muffins. This reimagining is paired with spring greens and tomato chutney for a delicious springtime lunch. The full recipe can be found here.

In January we featured a vegetarian eggplant lasagna created by the voice of Hamptons Epicure Stacy Dermont. This “pantry recipe” uses tofu to supplement ricotta cheese and will be featured in the Hamptons-centric cookbook that she is co-authoring with Hillary Davis. Check out the recipe here.

We also shared her “pantry recipe” for black bean and rice soup last January. In this dish she used Marilee Foster’s black turtle beans grown in Sagaponack, which made for a fresh, tasty dish. Recipe can be found here here.

In September 2017 we shared a seafood recipe from Eat Delicious, the premiere cookbook of Dennis Prescott. He details how to prepare creamy lobster mac and cheese with a breadcrumb crunch for an incredible maritime-style meal. The recipe is right here.

All the way back in June 2016, Stacy shared a great recipe for garlic scape pesto. Instead of using the traditional cloves of garlic like the previous recipes, this dish requires freshly cut scapes from the garden. While those are harder to come by, it’s worth the trouble for this summer delicacy. The full recipe is available here.