Poor parsley. Too many cooks relegate it to garnish status. What a pity when this sturdy green herb has so much to offer.
When I was growing up, the Middle Eastern salad tabloui was often on our dinner table: two bunches of curly leaf parsley finely chopped, a bunch of green onions thinly sliced, a few chopped tomatoes, a handful of softened bulgur or cracked wheat and a dressing of fresh lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper. Delicious the first day, it grew even more comforting on the second and third days as the parsley softened and blended with the other ingredients.
Parsley is a standard part of a bouquet garni, the bundle of parsley, thyme and rosemary that seasons many a French stew or soup. The French also use finely chopped parsley in a sauce called persillade, a close relative of the Italian gremolata in that both feature finely chopped garlic and parsley and are used to provide bright herbal bursts of flavor.
If you have parsley in your garden, it’s one of the few leafy green herbs that will continue bearing through the winter. Your new plant this year is actually waiting for next spring to burst into flower, set seed and die. In the meantime, it will stay green and useful no matter how cold it gets. Its hardy nature is one of the reasons you see parsley planted out in flower beds in office parks and around apartment complexes for fall and winter.
Cooks who don’t grow it but want the freshest parsley they can find may visit the Marietta, Alpharetta and Woodstock farmers markets or buy hydroponically grown parsley from Sweetwater Growers in Canton and Bowersville. The business is run by Dennis Dault and his sons James and Scott. They offer what they’ve found to be the seven most popular herb varieties: basil, dill, mint, oregano, parsley, rosemary and thyme, as well as herb-infused extra virgin olive oils and oil blends. You might also find their herbs at Whole Foods Market, Kroger and Ingles stores.
At any given time, Sweetwater Growers has 150,000 herb plants growing, about 10,000 of which are parsley. The Daults plant seeds seven days a week and parsley takes anywhere from 30 to 40 days to go from seed to market size. Because the plants are hydroponically grown, the parsley plants aren’t suitable for transplanting into your home garden, but can be kept in a glass of water and the leaves clipped off for use as needed.
If you’re debating between curly and flat leaf parsley, it may just be a matter of personal preference. I grew up with curly parsley and that’s what I grow and buy. Flat leaf or Italian parsley is said to have more volatile oils in the leaves which would make it more flavorful.
Whichever you decide to use, don’t discard the stems. Save them in a freeze-proof container or bag to add to your next batch of chicken soup or stock. If you have extra parsley you don’t need for a recipe, go ahead and chop and freeze it. Then you can just dip out the quantity you need for the next recipe. The frozen parsley will work just perfectly, unless of course you only wanted that little frilly bit of parsley for a garnish.
At local farmers markets
Cooking demos:
- 6 p.m. today. Chef Seth Freedman, Ruby Root Connections. East Atlanta Village Farmer's Market, Atlanta. www.farmeav.com
- 9:30 a.m. Saturday. Chef Mark Summers Parsley's Custom Catering will be working with parsley. Morningside Farmers Market, Atlanta. www.morningsidemarket.com
- 10 a.m. Saturday. Batdorf & Bronson. Peachtree Road Farmers Market, Atlanta. www.peachtreeroadfarmersmarket.com
- 11:30 a.m. Sunday. Chef John Hopkins of Abbatoir. Grant Park Farmers Market, Atlanta. www.grantparkmarket.org
For sale
Vegetables and fruit: acorn squash, African squash, arugula, apples, Asian greens, beans, beets, butternut squash, corn, cucumbers, delicata squash, eggplant, field peas, figs, garlic, haruki and other turnips, herbs, lettuce, mizuna, muscadines, okra, pea shoots, pears, peppers, potatoes, radishes, spaghetti squash, squash blossoms, summer squash, sweet potatoes, sweet potato greens, tomatoes and watermelon
From local reports
Quinoa Salad with Parsley and Spinach
Hands on: 10 minutes Total time: 30 minutes Serves: 6
Tabouli, a dish fast becoming a deli staple, is traditionally made of parsley and bulgur or cracked wheat. This variation on the theme uses quinoa, a high protein grain, and turns the parsley into a vinaigrette. Chopped spinach with its own dressing adds another layer of flavor. Serve this as a side salad or an unusual vegetarian main course.
3 cups vegetable stock
1 1/2 cups quinoa
2 bay leaves
2 cups loosely packed parsley leaves
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, divided
Salt
4 cups fresh spinach, roughly chopped
1/2 cup half-and-half
3 scallions, white part only, cut into thin rings
In a large saucepan, bring stock to a boil over high heat. While stock is heating, in a dry medium skillet, toast quinoa until it begins to pop and starts turning brown, about 5 minutes. Stir or shake the skillet frequently. Once quinoa has toasted and stock is boiling, add quinoa and bay leaves to stock. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook until liquid is absorbed and quinoa is tender, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and discard bay leaves.
While quinoa is cooking, make parsley vinaigrette in the bowl of a food processor. Combine parsley, olive oil and 1 tablespoon lemon juice. Process until parsley is finely chopped. Taste for seasoning. Set aside.
In a serving bowl, toss spinach with half-and-half and remaining lemon juice. Season to taste.
When ready to serve, toss cooked quinoa with parsley vinaigrette. Arrange over spinach and garnish with scallions.
Adapted from “Salad as a Meal” by Patricia Wells (William Morrow, $34.99).
Per serving: 266 calories (percent of calories from fat, 31), 13 grams protein, 34 grams carbohydrates, 6 grams fiber, 10 grams fat (2 grams saturated), 7 milligrams cholesterol, 304 milligrams sodium.
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