Garlic not only adds a delicious pop of flavor to your meals, it is also antiviral, antibiotic and heart-healthy. Wellness Chef Nancy Waldeck of Thomas F. Chapman Family Cancer Wellness at Piedmont has some tips to make prepping fresh garlic easy and fast so you can incorporate it into your diet.

Waldeck recommends buying fresh, raw garlic, not the prepackaged or powdered varieties. This will give you the most allicin, an organosulfur compound that provides garlic’s health benefits.

Fresh garlic in three easy steps

• Start with an unpeeled head of garlic. Hit the garlic on your cutting board to break up the cloves.
• Break off one clove. Place the flat side of a large chef’s knife on top of the clove and press carefully with the palm of your hand to smash the clove. Remove the paper or peel around the clove.
• Now, you can either chop the garlic or grate it on a microplane and use it in your healthy dishes.

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