Herb of the Month: Parsley

You may only see parsley as that little sprig of tiny leaves that is served as a garnish, but this herb gives any dish a fresh heightened flavor, and parsley has so many health benefits on its own.

Health Benefits

When you think of superfoods, I am pretty sure that parsley is not the first thing that pops into your mind. But, parsley is a superfood with an abundant of health benefits, such as anti-inflammatory power, a natural diuretic, aids in digestion, and can help with that bad breath. Parsley is also a great source of Vitamins A (vision health), C (immune health), and K (bone health).

So, the next time you are eating in a restaurant, do not look at that parsley on your plate as something to avoid and throw away, but have it with your food, or chew on it afterwards. Your body will love you for it!

Uses

For me, parsley is one of those herbs that I could use in almost any dish. Parsley has an amazing fresh flavor and compliments dishes like pasta, soups, salads, and meat. I will throw parsley in just about everything! My favorite use is in soups and stews. For most people, soup is a fall/winter meal, but I could eat soup all year round.

Dried parsley is pretty good, and I do dry my own, but there is something euphoric about fresh parsley. I have a friend that uses parsley in his “green drink.” This is something that I really never thought about doing, so I started playing around with this idea to come up with my own recipe. And, why not?

Parsley Juice Recipe

For this recipe, I decided to put together flavors that I like to make up a tasty green drink that is packed full nutrients.

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Ingredients

• 1 cup parsley

• 1 cup spinach (packed)

• 1 cup cucumber (chopped)

• 2 stalks celery (chopped)

• 1 apple (seeds removed)

• 1 lemon (zest and juice)

• 1 cup water

• 6 oz 100% pineapple juice (or 3 – 1/2″ slices fresh pineapple)

• 2 cups ice

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Directions

• Add all ingredients into a blender with a smoothie setting.
• Blender until smooth.
• Pour into a glass and enjoy!

How to Oven Dry Parsley

There are several different methods to preserve parsley, such as pack it into freezer bags, put them in cube trays with oil and freeze it, and my utmost favorite way is to oven dry.

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Directions

• Pull the leaves from the stem of the parsley. You can save the stems to make veggie stock, or add them to your compost pile.
• Rinse the parsley well and pat with a paper towel, or use a salad spinner, which is what I use. Salad spinners make life easier after rinsing leafy greens.
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees
• Place parsley on parchment paper-lined sheet pan (or cookie sheet)
• Turn the oven temperature down to Warm (170 – 200 degrees). DO NOT FORGET THIS STEP. This is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT! Otherwise, your parsley will burn.
• Put the sheet pan of parsley in the oven and bake for 20-30 minutes (until the parsley easily crumbles between your fingers). Check on the parsley at 15-20 minutes to see if it easily crumbles. The color will remain nice a green.
• Take the parsley out of the oven and crumble all of the leaves with your fingers.
• Put crumbled parsley into a jar. You can use a funnel to make it easier, or just lift the parchment paper to form funnel and slide it into the jar.

Note: If you decide to grow parsley, this plant is a biennial, which means it will grow the first year and in the second year it will flower and go to seed. Within the second year, you do have time to collect more parsley leaves before it goes to seed.