Garlic-head, that's me

I have a friend, April, who is a toxicologist. She's a lot of other cool things too - like a computer programmer, a great cook and more - but because of the advanced toxicology degree and her interest in the subject, she's got a lot of interesting information about medications and such. A while ago, I thought I was coming down with something and really needed not to get sick. She said to eat a clove of raw garlic - once a day or so - because it has antibiotic and antiviral properties. I eat a lot of cooked garlic, but she said it has to be raw or it doesn't have the illness-fighting effect.

I proceeded to actually chew up an entire clove of raw garlic.

As soon as I did it, I realized one of the other things April is: very funny. I was immediately siezed with the conviction that I'd been had: the garlic thing had to be a trick to convince me to do something crazy like eat a whole clove of raw garlic! I called her and said, "OH, I FELL FOR IT!" I was convinced that I'd been a giant, garlic-flavored sucker. But, it turns out - no joke. The garlic thing is real and scientific and all that. And I think it works. However, it isn't very pleasant.

Well, now all that has been remedied. April, who is also the FrooGal Foodie, has shared one of her recipes that I love. It is for a Lebanese Garlic Sauce (similar to Greek "skordalia" if you happen to be familiar with that - I wasn't). She has been making it for a while and it used to be a hassle - I wasn't willing to try it myself, I just ate hers whenever she made it. But now, the recipe has been perfected and it's super-easy. I made a batch this week and it was not only simple but delicious! The texture is somewhere between that of hummus and mayonnaise and the flavor is sharp in the best possible way.

Here's the problem: I'm eating it all. I started with about one and a half heads of garlic (equivalent to the 22-25 cloves called for in the recipe) and got about a cup and a half of thick sauce. That was Friday night and by Monday snacktime, I had just about polished it off. I've been eating it on veggies and on chips and... well, with a spoon. The only reason it isn't gone completely is that I couldn't bring myself to have none left, so I put the last couple of bites back in the fridge (I do that a lot - drives my mother crazy when she visits). I guess when I buy more garlic, I'll eat those last bites and make another batch.

Garlic has got to be oozing from my pores by now, but it's soooo good that I can't stop. Must be addicting. And even if no one can stand to come near me, at least I should be really healthy.

Check out the Garlic Sauce Recipe, complete with references to scientific studies about antibiotic and antiviral benefits!

Update: I gave the last bites to my hubby who thought he was getting sick (he says it worked), so I immediately made a new batch. But, maybe because the garlic heads were bigger, it turned out way too strong. I thought the first batch was strong, but it was enjoyably so. The second batch, wow. It wasn't working for me. So, after a consultation with April, I added another recipe's worth of lemon juice and salt, more oil (didn't measure, just streamed some in), and blended it again. The texture is still great and now the flavor is right on the money. I'm back to eating it like a crazy person.