Homemade Salsa: In winter I take home canned tomatoes and add tons of raw garlic and onions – a winter pantry staple. Drizzled with some olive oil, I serve this with anything – Mexican food or otherwise – and it’s a big hit at our dinner table.

Ranch (or other) Salad Dressing: I almost always add minced raw garlic to salad dressings. Our favorite is a homemade ranch made with kefir, garlic, lemon juice, and parsley. Garlic is also great in a homemade vinaigrette.

On Buttered Toast: Garlic, butter, and toast are best friends. You can toast up a slice of bread, butter it generously, and sprinkle raw minced garlic on top as a super garlic toast.

Guacamole: The fat in avocados seems to cry out for a sharp contrast in the form of spicy peppers or pungent garlic. So be generous and throw a few cloves into your guacamole.

Stirred Into Cooled Pasta Sauce: We love the flavor of garlic as well as the health properties. So if I made a tomato sauce to go with some homemade noodles I add a handful of cloves to the sauce as it cooks. Then, once it is dished up and has had a chance to cool for a minute, I add some more minced garlic to our plates and stir it in for extra flavor and nutrition.

Mashed Potatoes: Again, garlic + butter + potatoes is just delicious. Make up your potatoes with butter and milk and plop them on your plates. Once cooled for a few minutes you can add some minced garlic to spice them up.

Garlic-Honey-Lemon Tea: For the uninitiated this sounds crazy and gross. But having grown up on honey and lemon tea for any sore throat, I can tell you the addition of the garlic in this recipe is strangely delicious and really good for you as well.

Blended Into a Hot Sauce: Just throw some peppers, seeded for a more mild sauce, garlic, olive oil, and salt into a blender with a bit of vinegar. Once blended it will be awesome with beans, tacos, quesadillas, chips, enchiladas, or pretty much anything else you’re eating.