Onions and Garlic

Most of my favorite dishes start with sauteing onion and garlic. As I want to cook healthily, I found interesting facts at WHFoods' Onions and Garlic articles:

ONION

• Don't overpeel onions as the flavonoids are more concentrated in the outer onion layers.
• The quercetin in onions do not get degraded when they're simmered to make soup. It's just transferred into the water. You can preserve the health benefits of onion by making onion soup using a low-heat method.
• Several servings of onion each week are sufficient to statistically lower your risk of some types of cancer. For colorectal, laryngeal, and ovarian cancer, between 1-7 servings of onion has been shown to provide risk reduction. But for decreased risk of oral and esophageal cancer, you'll need to consume one onion serving per day (approximately ½ cup). 
• Try to include at least 1 medium onion in your recipes and one-half of an onion in your individual food portion. 
• To bring out the sweet flavor of onions use the Healthy Sauté method of cooking onions for just 7 minutes. Cut onions into slices of equal ¼-inch thickness to help them cook more evenly. The thinner you slice the onions the more quickly they will cook.  
•  to enhance their health-promoting properties.
•  The Healthiest Way of Cooking Onions - how to enjoy them as a healthy side dish. Heat 2 TBS vegetable or chicken broth over medium heat in a stainless steel skillet. When broth begins to steam, add onions and cover for 3 minutes. The onions will release a small amount of liquid. Uncover, add another 2 TBS broth, and continue to stir for 4 minutes, leaving the lid off. For the best flavor toss onions with olive oil and add salt and pepper to taste while they are still hot. For details see, 7-Minute Healthy Sautéed Onions

GARLIC

• Increase the health benefits of garlic by letting it sit for 5 minutes after it is chopped or crushed as it will give the alliinase enzymes in garlic an opportunity to work on behalf of your health. 
• For example, in the absence of chopping or crushing, research has shown that just 60 seconds of immediate microwaving will cause garlic to lose some of its cancer-protective properties. Immediate boiling of whole, intact garlic will also lower these properties, as will immediate addition of a very low-acid ingredient like lemon juice.
• Have at least one serving of an allium vegetable-such as garlic-in your meal plan every day. Try to include at least ½ clove in your individual food portion. If you're preparing a recipe, we recommend at least 1-2 cloves.
• It is recommended using raw chopped or pressed garlic. However, if you cannot tolerate raw garlic, you can add chopped garlic to foods while they are cooking. It is best to add it towards the end of the cooking process to retain the maximum amount of flavor and nutrition
• Do not store garlic in oil at room temperature. Garlic-in-oil mixtures stored at room temperature provide perfect conditions for producing botulism, regardless of whether the garlic is fresh or has been roasted.  
• Add chopped garlic towards the end of the cooking time to retain maximum flavor and nutrition. Too much heat for too long will reduce the activity of the health-promoting sulfur compounds that have formed by letting it sit for 5-10 minutes; it will also make garlic bitter. Therefore expose garlic to heat for as little time as possible (5-15 minutes).