Garlic is an unusually healthy product that can be consumed both fresh and as part of other dishes. Garlic snacks are distinguished by their original taste. With heat treatment and pickling, the sharp aroma of this vegetable is less pronounced and it becomes more pleasant to eat it.
Garlic is a storehouse of nutrients. It contains B vitamins, vitamin C, silicon, magnesium, phosphoric and some organic acids. It contains antioxidants that help fight premature aging, preserve youth. The consumption of garlic in food helps to strengthen the immune system, reduces the risk of cardiovascular diseases.
Garlic lowers blood pressure and blood cholesterol levels. It is a powerful aphrodisiac. Garlic contains allicin and a number of essential oils that give it its specific taste and aroma. It is very useful to use this product fresh, but due to its pronounced taste characteristics, not everyone likes it. On the basis of garlic, you can prepare many original and simple snacks at home, which are even served on a festive table.
Pickled garlic with beets
Pickled garlic is considered one of the most popular snacks. It can be served with meat, fish, or as a separate dish, as an addition to alcoholic beverages. To prepare such a blank you will need:
- 600 g of garlic;
- 200-250 g of beets (preferably young);
- 1 tbsp. l salt;
- a little spices (black peppercorns, allspice);
- 2 tbsp. l sugar;
- vinegar 9% - 50-70 ml.
Cooking steps:
- Carefully examine the garlic before pickling, discard rotten or moldy cloves. Even if the area of damage is small, such cloves should not be used for preparing a snack. Peel the garlic gently. The tops can be carefully cut off.
- Peel the beets and cut into very thin strips. To make your work easier and ensure that all the slices are about the same size, you can use a special grater that is used to cook Korean carrots.
- Put the garlic and beets in an enamel bowl or arrange in sterile jars. It all depends on the volume and purpose of cooking. If you plan to prepare a snack for future use, it is better to decompose the garlic with beets in sterile jars. When you marinate some garlic to eat it quickly enough, you can pour the marinade over the vegetables in any container with a lid. It is important that the dishes are enameled, glass or stainless steel.
- Pour water (about 1 liter) into a small saucepan, add sugar and salt, and then put on fire. When the brine boils, add spices and vinegar, turn off the stove and pour the marinade over the garlic and beets.
- Close the jars or the selected container with lids. When the appetizer has cooled, put it in a cool place. You can use it after 2 weeks. During this time, the garlic will marinate well and acquire a pleasant taste.
To prepare a popular snack, you can marinate not peeled cloves, but whole heads. In this case, the garlic will turn out to be no less tasty. You only need to peel the top layer of the husk, and the cloves can remain in the shells. For these purposes, it is better to choose young garlic.
The proportions of vinegar, salt, sugar and water for the marinade can be adjusted as desired. Increasing the sugar content makes the snack taste even more delicious.
Garlic appetizer with horseradish and tomatoes
The popular homemade garlic, horseradish and tomato appetizer is sure to appeal to people who prefer spicy dishes. To prepare it you will need:
- 200 g of garlic;
- 200 g horseradish;
- 2 bulgarian peppers;
- 800-900 g of tomatoes (better large and very ripe);
- a little salt;
- some spices.
Cooking steps:
- Peel the garlic. It is better to remove spoiled, soft teeth immediately. It is especially important not to allow moldy cloves to get into the finished snack.
- Peel horseradish roots with a vegetable peeler or knife. Rinse the Bulgarian peppers, remove the tops and seed pods, and then cut into slices or large cubes.
- Cut the tomatoes into several parts and remove the upper hard part in the region of the stalk.
- Pass all ingredients through a meat grinder. So that horseradish does not irritate the mucous membranes of the eyes, you can put a bag on the protruding part of the meat grinder. You can grind ingredients in another way. For example, you can grind all vegetables and root vegetables with a blender. But in this case, the pieces will turn out to be larger, and the consistency is not very uniform.
- Put the chopped mass in a deep bowl, add a little salt and spices. You don't need to add spices. The appetizer is already spicy. Stir the mass very thoroughly and pour into jars, put in the refrigerator. Such a blank is perfectly stored and can be served as a spicy snack. It goes well with bread, boiled potatoes.
Garlic and cream cheese appetizer
A successful classic appetizer made from processed cheese with garlic can decorate any meal. To prepare it you will need:
- 2 processed cheese;
- 4-6 cloves of garlic;
- a little salt;
- mayonnaise;
- dill or parsley.
Cooking steps:
- Peel the garlic cloves and pass through a press. You can grind them with a blender, but in this case the consistency of the mass will be slightly different.
- Grate the processed cheese on a fine grater.
- Chop the herbs (dill or parsley) finely. Leave a few twigs to decorate the dish.
- Mix the cheese with garlic and herbs in a bowl, add a little salt, add mayonnaise and mix thoroughly. You can not add greens to the garlic-cheese mixture, but simply sprinkle the finished snack on it.
You can serve such a dish to the table as an appetizer, spreading a tasty mass on slices of bread or putting it in a small salad bowl. In this recipe, processed cheese can be replaced with any kind of hot cheese, but you need to grate it on a fine grater. Curd cakes with various flavors are not very suitable for preparing snacks.
To make the mixture more satisfying, but at the same time tender, it is permissible to replace 1 processed cheese with a boiled egg. First, the egg should be boiled and peeled, and then grated on a fine grater and mixed with the rest of the ingredients. It is better to prepare an appetizer just before serving.
Carrot appetizer with garlic and walnuts
A very tasty snack can be prepared from fresh and juicy carrots with the addition of garlic and walnuts. To do this, you need to prepare the following products:
- 2 large carrots;
- 3-4 cloves of garlic;
- 6-8 walnuts;
- fatty mayonnaise or sour cream;
- a little salt.
Cooking steps:
- Peel and grate the carrots. Peel the garlic and pass through a press.
- Peel the walnuts and chop them in a convenient way. You can do this with a blender, or chop with a knife, but the degree of chopping should be high.
- Mix the ingredients in a deep bowl, add a little salt and add mayonnaise, then mix everything well again. Instead of mayonnaise in this recipe, you can use fatty sour cream.
The resulting mixture can be served as an original snack. It is convenient to spread it on bread or iron it with a spoon on small tomatoes cut in half, on halves of boiled eggs.
To make the appetizer more satisfying, you can add a little grated cheese to it and put the finished mixture in the tartlets. Halves of walnuts or sprigs of greenery are used as decoration.
