{"id":16710,"date":"2021-01-01T10:00:20","date_gmt":"2021-01-01T15:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/?p=16710"},"modified":"2020-12-18T13:02:43","modified_gmt":"2020-12-18T18:02:43","slug":"grow-parsley-in-your-home-and-use-it-when-cooking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/2021\/01\/01\/grow-parsley-in-your-home-and-use-it-when-cooking\/","title":{"rendered":"Grow Parsley in Your Home and Use it When Cooking!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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By Chef Nancy Berkoff, EdD,\nRD<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s the time of year to\nbring nature inside, to perk up the air and the indoor scenery. Parsley is an\neasy way to do this. Place a few pots of these perky plants around the house to\ncleanse the air and the palate. Parsley can be displayed as a spritely bouquet,\nmixed with other fresh herbs (such as basil, rosemary, or sage), or with dried\nflowers or grasses, or as a potted plant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are two main types of\nparsley: flat and curly leafed. Curly parsley, when stored properly, is very\ncrisp. This crispiness adds texture and color when added to dishes just before\nserving. Curly leafed parsley holds its shape best under refrigeration, when\nwrapped in a damp towel. Flat parsley is the \u201cflavor\u201d parsley.  Flat parsley is one of the essential\ningredients in the classic bouquet garni, or packet of herbs and spices used to\nflavor broths and just about any savory dish. Combine flat parsley with\ntarragon, chives, and chervil, and you have the traditional French flavoring\nblend of  \u201cfines herbes,\u201d or fine herbs,\nwhich can be cooked with or sprinkled on steamed, grilled, or roasted\nvegetables, potatoes, mushrooms, and grains. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chopped and added at the last\npossible second, parsley perks up sauces and salads. There is very little that\ndoes not spiff up with the addition of parsley: think rice dishes, vegetables,\nscrambled or grilled tofu, pasta, or seitan steaks. Parsley can serve as a\nback-up to basil in pestos. Deep-fried for a split second, curly leaf parsley\nmakes an even curlier garnish. Think of a cuisine, such as Middle Eastern,\nEastern European, Central American, or South East Asian, and parsley is there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Persillade and gremolada are\ntwo well-known sauces which have parsley as one of the main ingredients.\nPersillade, a French sauce, is a saut\u00e9ed mixture of finely chopped parsley and\nfresh garlic. Persillade is used as a finishing touch for grilled foods. Gremolada\nis a Milanese condiment made of saut\u00e9ed parsley, garlic, lemon, and orange zest.\nThis mixture can be spread over veggie burgers or roasts just a few minutes\nprior to removing from the grill or oven, or used with breads (as in garlic\nbread), soups, or sauces. If you are watching your sodium intake, try a parsley\nblend of finely minced dried parsley, marjoram, and thyme. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Parsley is mentioned often\nthroughout history, and not only for its culinary and medicinal properties. The\nearly Greeks made crowns of parsley to bestow upon the winners of sports\ncompetitions, in the same wat that bay wreaths honored the Roman Olympians.\nParsley is used in the Jewish celebration of Passover as a symbol of spring and\nrebirth. Parsley is mentioned as one of the plants in the gardens of\nCharlemagne and Catherine de Medici. Rumor has it that Medici is responsible\nfor popularizing parsley when she brought it back to France from its native Italy.\nAs far back as Hippocrates, the \u201cfirst\u201d physician,\u201d parsley was used in\nmedicinal recipes as a general \u201cgood for what ails you\u201d tonic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Parsley is rich in vitamins\nand minerals, particularly vitamins A and C, and in antioxidants. The high\nchlorophyll content seems to act as a breath freshener. Researchers have\nisolated a compound, apiol, which is now used in medications to treat kidney\nailments and kidney stones. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Parsley is best used fresh,\nbut can also be used frozen or dried. If you have an abundance of fresh\nparsley, you can freeze for later use by washing, patting dry, and freezing,\nleaf and stem, covered, in a single layer. Parsley may be dried by washing,\npatting dry, removing stems, spreading on a baking sheet, and drying in a low\noven, around 200 degrees. Store dried parsley in an air-tight container. With\nso many ways to use parsley in the kitchen, it might be nice to grow a pot or\ntwo of each variety.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Chef Nancy Berkoff, EdD, RD It\u2019s the time of year to bring nature inside, to perk up the air and the indoor scenery. Parsley is an easy way to do this. Place a few pots of these perky plants around the house to cleanse the air and the palate. Parsley can be displayed as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16710","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16710","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16710"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16710\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16712,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16710\/revisions\/16712"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16710"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16710"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16710"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}