Grilled Garlic

Grilled garlic refers to caramelized grill roasted garlic with a smoky and mellow flavor. Grilling or cooking the garlic cloves prior to using them in salads, as dressing, or in sauces, is very important to prevent the chemical reaction that occurs as soon as they are cut. The cells of the garlic cloves are broken when they are cut, which results in a chemical reaction.

The garlic cloves can be grilled after being threaded onto bamboo or wooden skewers or after being wrapped in aluminum foil. Usually cooking spray is misted over garlic cloves before they are grilled.  

How to Grill Garlic?

The process of grilling garlic is quite simple, which involves getting rid of papery skin of garlic, trimming the ends of each garlic clove, piling all the cloves onto aluminum foil, drizzling them with olive oil, sealing the edges of foil in order to avoid burning, and then grilling them on preheated grill over medium heat.  The garlic cloves are grilled until they are caramelized and soft.    

Tips to Grill Garlic

• Heavy and firm garlic should be chosen for grilling purpose. The process of grilling garlic reduces its volume. If light weight and soft garlic is chosen for grilling purpose, the resultant grilled garlic would be left with very little volume. Therefore, firm and heavy garlic should be selected for grilling.

• The bamboo skewers or wooden skewers should be soaked in water for around twenty to thirty minutes before being threaded with garlic cloves to prevent flare ups.

• The grill should be preheated over medium to high heat before grilling the garlic. Garlic cloves should be grilled on medium heat to ensure that they are evenly cooked from all sides.

• It is suggested to place garlic on the grill’s top rack, if in case it starts getting dark too quickly.

• It is recommended to grill garlic on indirect heat, as exposure of the garlic to direct flame would make it charred, and bitter in taste.

Ingredients and Preparation

The basic grilled garlic recipe suggests using garlic cloves and nonstick cooking spray as the only ingredients. Garlic cloves are threaded onto bamboo or wooden skewers and then grilled until tender and brown over medium heat after being sprayed with cooking spray.

Balsamic vinegar can be drizzled on garlic cloves before they are grilled. Garlic cloves can also be grilled after seasoning them with pepper and salt.

Variations

A popular variation of grilled garlic has been discussed as follows:

• Garlic can be grilled after being packed in aluminum foil as against the basic recipe of grilling garlic after being threaded onto skewers. The garlic cloves are placed on aluminum foil, misted with cooking spray, and grilled after sealing the edges of foil.

Storing Tips

Grilled garlic can be stored in refrigerator for 2-3 days.   

Uses

Some of the popular uses of grilled roasted garlic cloves have been discussed hereunder:

• Grill roasted garlic cloves can be eaten directly once they are slightly cool after squeezing them out from their skin with the help of fingers or fork.

• Grill roasted garlic cloves can be used in mashed form as a spread for warm bread.

• A mixture of sour cream and grill roasted garlic cloves can be used as topping for potatoes.

• Grill roasted garlic cloves can be combined with parmesan cheese and pasta to prepare a delectable dish.

• The grilled cloves of garlic can be tossed in salad.

Nutrition Facts

One grilled garlic clove provides around 4 calories obtained from 1 g of carbohydrate, 1 mg of sodium, and almost negligible amount of fat and protein. Garlic is a cholesterol free food product and is high in antioxidants, hence proving to be good for overall health, and helping in neutralizing free radicals in human body.