Parsley

No kitchen should be without a good supply of this multi-purpose herb. It can be used as a garnish and flavouring and as a vegetable Parsley can be used in almost any savoury dish. It’s especially good used in great quantities in fresh salads or in soups and tomato sauces. Chop or shred it and mix with butter to melt over fish or to glaze vegetables.There’s just as much flavour in the stalk as in the leaf and both are used to flavour stews and stocks. It’s delicious briefly deep-fried and served as a vegetable.  Use it in marinades, stuffing, in omelettes – the list goes on! Fresh parsley should be washed right before using since it is highly fragile. The best way to clean it is just like you would spinach. Place it in a bowl of cold water and swish it around with your hands.

This will allow any sand or dirt to dislodge. Remove the leaves from the water, empty the bowl, refill it with clean water and repeat this process until no dirt remains in the water. Since it has a stronger flavor than the curly variety, Italian flat leaf parsley holds up better to cooking and therefore is usually the type preferred for hot dishes. It should be added towards the end of the cooking process so that it can best retain its taste, colour and nutritional value. Combine chopped parsley with chopped green onions (scallions), mint leaves, lemon juice and olive oil. Add parsley to pesto sauce to add more texture to its green colour. Serve a colourful salad of fennel, orange, cherry tomatoes, pumpkin seeds and parsley leaves. Stir Parsley into melted garlic butter for a savory, yet simple, pasta or steamed vegetable topper.