Did you know that garlic is more than a pungent and medicinal ingredient? It’s also a powerful spiritual symbol. In many cultures, garlic is believed to protect from evil spirits and negative energies.
Some cultures and spiritual practices used garlic to promote physical, emotional, and spiritual healing. Ancient Greek athletes ate garlic before competitions to boost performance and courage. Certain Hindu traditions view garlic as a potent aphrodisiac, using it in fertility rituals. Native American tribes incorporated garlic into agricultural rituals to ensure bountiful harvests and protect crops from pests and diseases.
For years, I’ve been wearing a necklace with a small hamsa hand. But recently, I’ve switched to a gold garlic earring that I created with my friend, Lihi, a talented jewelry designer.
If you’re like me—a bit superstitious and intrigued by the spiritual powers of garlic—you might want to check out our garlic charms. Not only are they cool and unique, but they’re also locally crafted right here in Los Angeles.
Garlic is healthy and all, but you shouldn’t eat too much raw garlic, because it’s like a natural antibiotic. It kills all bacteria, good and bad. So if you eat lots of fresh garlic, make sure to balance it with some probiotics.
Now about this salad: I wanted to make Skordalia, a classic Greek potato dip, but my weird boys don’t like mashed potatoes. Therefore I chopped them instead of mashing them.
Potatoes love fat, so don’t be stingy with the olive oil. Plus, you can choke on a chunk of potato if it’s not well lubricated. Don’t you worry about getting fat. You won’t. Just take a look at me and the rest of the Mediterraneans. We’re far from being fat, and we’ve been drizzling olive oil on everything since the dawn of time. Plus, we don’t eat this salad every day, although I would if I didn’t have to peel the potatoes.
You can also make my curried potato salad with herbs or my potato salad with caramelized onion.
Easy Garlicky Potato Salad
Ingredients
- 10 medium waxy potatoes - about 2 pounds
- Salt
- 5 garlic cloves - peeled
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1 red sweet pepper or bell pepper
- A generous handful dill or parsley
- Black pepper
Instructions
- Boil the potatoes in salted water, using about 1 tablespoon of salt, until tender but not mushy. A knife should be able to pierce the potatoes without resistance. Drain and let the potatoes cool down.
- Blend the garlic cloves, lemon juice, and olive oil in a small blender (ninja) or in a jar using a hand blender until smooth.
- Dice the pepper finely and chop the dill finely and put in a bowl large enough to fit the salad.
- Dice the cooled potatoes roughly and add them to the bowl. Pour the garlic sauce in, season generously black pepper and toss well to combine. Taste and add salt and more olive oil if necessary.
