garlic

Between dips, nachos, and an assortment of crostini, it's hard for me to say what my signature appetizer is. However, the other day when I was discussing this with my sister, she said, "I know what your signature appetizer is: it's gambas!"

She was referring to gambas al ajillo, the classic Spanish tapa that combines sizzling pink shrimp with spicy, garlicky olive oil. It's always served with bread for mopping, meaning it's a dish that's somewhere between a dip and crostini. I quickly realized she was right: garlic shrimp are my signature appetizer.

I've made them more times than I could ever remember, and when I don't know what to serve, I always turn to the succulent gambas. It's a super easy, simple recipe that comes together quickly, so I highly recommend you add it to your arsenal. For my rendition of Spain's most flavorful and famous shrimp, read more

Like Carrie on Sex and the City, my secret single behavior refers to food. While she snacked on saltine crackers slathered with grape jelly, the number one dish I like to eat when I'm home alone and no one is watching? Pasta with anchovies and garlic. It's my last minute go-to dinner that I devour about once a week. I always have pasta, anchovies, garlic, and shallots on hand. The cheese and herbs vary based on what I find in the fridge. The resulting pasta is the perfect thing to eat by yourself: it's rich, satisfying, and slightly luxurious. It pairs with red or white wine, and can be enjoyed with a mixed green salad or toasty garlic bread.

Do you have secret single food? If you aren't single, what do you eat when you're alone? Share with me below and keep reading for my recipe.

Although I love roasting a whole chicken at home, sometimes there simply isn't time. When that's the case, I head to my local supermarket and pick up cooked chicken. If I'm serving friends, I'll purchase an entire rotisserie chicken, but if cooking for just myself, I simply buy one breast. The things you can do with a store-bought chicken are endless. This recipe uses the chicken to make a quick salad that's paired with toasty garlic bread. It's a great base recipe that can be added to and modified. Toss in vegetables, cheese, or nuts to make it more complex.

Get the basic technique after the break.

One of the demos I had the pleasure of watching over the weekend at the Food Network's South Beach Wine and Food Festival was lead by Iron Chef Michael Symon. The Cleveland native, who recommends only eating "food that your grandparents and great grandparents can recognize," made fresh pasta with a scrumptious-smelling simple tomato sauce. While cooking, Symon expressed a lot of his strong opinions and spoke at length about garlic. To find out what he has to say about this everyday ingredient, read more

Have you ever noticed how sticky garlic is? When you're peeling it, it sticks to your fingers, and when mincing, it sticks to the cutting board and knife. For years I've been annoyed by it, but recently I discovered an easy way to reduce garlic's stickiness. After you've peeled a clove, drop a tiny bit of olive oil on top. The oil lubricates the garlic and ensures that it won't stick.

Do you have a secret cooking tip that pertains to garlic? Please share with us below!

Congrats — you've just about made it through the first week of 2010. Why not reward yourself with a luxurious scallop dinner? This scallop recipe, courtesy of Ina Garten, is a quick, easy, and classic preparation. If you've never made scallops before, I suggest experimenting with this dish. It's virtually flawless, and the sauce — a mixture of butter, garlic, shallots, white wine, and parsley — is rich and flavorful. Serve with a mixed green salad, a glass of white wine, and let the weekend begin! Get the recipe.

After a long week, there's nothing like heading home to a delicious dinner and a glass of good wine. When I'm stressed out, I find cooking relaxing — especially if I'm making something like a roasted garlic white pizza.

Instead of a classic tomato sauce, this pizza is slathered with a paste made from roasted garlic. It's then topped with spinach, bacon, ricotta, and mozzarella. Talk about a scrumptious pie! To kick-start your weekend with this dish, get the recipe and read more

Want to get your garden on this Winter, but don't want to spend a lot of time or money? Then garlic is your go-to crop.

In most of the US, now is the ideal time to plant garlic, since the cloves you plant will establish roots before the ground freezes. They require virtually no care, and you can then harvest them in June or July.

If you're squeezed for space, you can also plant garlic in containers. Start with good quality potting soil, and fill most of a container with it. Then plant one garlic clove (buy in a garden or hardware store) per small pot. Push the clove about an inch under the soil surface. Water, then set along the side of your house out of the way of cold winds, and let it winter there. It's always so fun to see the green garlic shoots peeking up in the Spring!

Source: Flickr User lburiedpaul

I love garlic. I can't think of any savory meal where I don't use it, and I also take garlic supplements. It's something my doctor recommended because she believes it helps regulate digestion and ward off colds. Turns out she's right, at least about the preventing colds part.

A study followed two groups — one that took garlic supplements and another that took a placebo — and found that the garlic group came down with fewer colds, and recovered faster too. Researchers aren't exactly clear why it helps, but some suggest that allicin, a main component of the pungent vegetable, blocks enzymes that play a part in causing infections.

It's also not clear if garlic works after the onset of a cold, or if it needs to be taken as a preventative measure. Until more research comes in, I'll keep taking my supplements regularly.

Halloween happens to fall on a Saturday this year which makes it an ideal night for hosting a party. But don't just throw any party, select a theme, like vampires, and use this to inspire a ghoulish bash.

Start by sending our free vampire invitations specially designed for the online invitation service, Pingg. All you have to do is fill them out and send — how easy is that?

Once you've notified your friends, you can focus on more important things, like the menu. Select an assortment of finger-licking good foods that evoke the vampire culture.

Tomato soup filled test tubes resemble the addictive vampire blood popular in the HBO series, True Blood. Stefan Salvatore, the kind bloodsucker on the CW's Vampire Diaries who loves garlic, would devour a platter of garlic and cheese crostini. Guests will feel like Buffy the Vampire Slayer when they stake steak bites with skewers and dunk them into a bloody Mary dipping sauce. Finally, spicy sriracha doused chicken wings are so hearty they'd satiate even the toughest Cullen brother's hunger. Get these festive recipes when you read more