Its cold and flu season folks, and that means its time to break out grandma's favorite trick to cure everything from the common cold to a lost limb. Everyone has that one trick that their grandparents gave them as fail proof. But sometimes its good to find new ways to battle off the bitter winter chill and illnesses that come with.
Garlic is often a key ingredient in any family cure, but this super soup is supposed to be able to even cure norovirus. But be warned, you will be warding off vampires for a month after a bowl of this. It comes with a heavy dose, to the tune of 52 cloves of garlic among healthy portions of ginger and onions among other ingredients and spices.
So check out how to fend off the worst of winter with this delicious Ginger-Garlic Soup.
Garlic has been used since ancient times in a number of societies. It was often used by the working class to boost their heartiness to improve productivity. One of the most prominent examples was in Egypt, where slaves were fed garlic to keep them work-worthy.
Greece, Rome, and China all described medical uses for garlic in their literature, but the Chinese took it one step further, and found that it is both an effective preservative, as well as a treatment for male impotence.
One of the last surviving ancient medical texts from India called the Charaka-Samhita, reccomended treating heart disease and arthritis with garlic 2000 years ago.
Garlic contains a substance that is called Alliin. When this compound is crushed, it is altered and becomes allicin, before quickly breaking down into sulfur-containing organic compounds that are the true source of all of garlics many medical benefits.
A body of research has shown that garlic has particular antioxidant effects that can protect against a number of cancer-causing cells, as well as quite useful and effective against stomach, prostate, and esophageal cancers. Garlic has also been been found to help control a number of pathogen-carrying microorganisms, which may be the reason it is so effective against the cold and flu.
There are a number of organic compounds containing high levels of sulfur that are the culprit in terms garlic's pungent odor, are also the ones that give garlic it's immune-boosting benefits.
In a number of studies they have been shown to boost the disease-fighting capabilities of several types of white blood cells in the body when they come into contact with viruses.
26 garlic cloves (unpeeled)
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) organic butter (grass-fed)
1/2 teaspoon cayenne powder
1/2 cup fresh ginger
2 1/4 cups sliced onions
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
26 garlic cloves, peeled
1/2 cup coconut milk
3 1/2 cups organic vegetable broth
4 lemon wedges
Preheat oven to 350F. Place 26 garlic cloves in a small glass baking dish. Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt and toss to coat. Cover baking dish tightly with foil and bake until garlic is golden brown and tender about 45 minutes. Cool. Squeeze garlic between fingertips to release cloves. Transfer cloves to a small bowl.
Melt butter in a heavy large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onions, thyme, ginger and cayenne powder and cook until onions are translucent about 6 minutes. Add roasted garlic and 26 raw garlic cloves and cook 3 minutes.
Add vegetable broth; cover and simmer until garlic is very tender about 20 minutes. Working in batches, puree the soup in a blender until smooth. Return soup to saucepan; add coconut milk and bring to simmer. Season with sea salt and pepper for flavor.
Squeeze the juice of 1 lemon wedge into each soup bowl and serve.