Leek is a two-year-old plant, the terrestrial part of which consists of wide green leaves arranged fan-shaped. The underground part is white. Any part of the stem is suitable for food. Leek is widely used in many countries in the field of cooking. It is used for making broths, soups. It is stewed, pickled, dried, frozen. In the preparation of salads with this onion, many chefs are still experimenting and always get excellent results, as well as a new recipe.
From the history
The beneficial properties of leeks have been identified and used safely in ancient times. It is known that great speakers took him for food to restore his voice. Poor people ate it during the famine, as it is able to quickly saturate the body in small quantities.
Healing properties
This greens is rich in sugars, vitamins of groups B (1, 2, 6, 9) C, E, PP, carotene, potassium salts, magnesium, phosphorus, sodium, iron. Useful onions, decide for yourself, but it has been valued since antiquity. This product is recommended for food suffering from atherosclerosis, rheumatism, urolithiasis, as well as with psychological stress. It is claimed that due to the huge content of organic sulfur this vegetable is able to get rid of salmonella and E. coli.
At present, the beneficial properties of leeks have been proven: accelerating the metabolism, improving appetite, normalizing the digestive tract and liver, stimulating secretion. By nature, it has choleretic and diuretic qualities. It is also used to remove toxins from the body, lower cholesterol. He is subject to reduce or completely prevent the formation of blood clots in the blood. Leek is advised to eat with the following diagnoses: chronic bronchitis, diabetes mellitus, asthma.
Contraindications
In inflammatory diseases of the stomach and duodenum, its use is strictly prohibited. At the same time, onions, whose calorie content is only 35 kcal per hundred grams, are used in many slimming dishes.
Miscellaneous
In folk medicine, other beneficial properties of leeks are indicated. It is used to treat festering wounds and ulcers, insect bites.
How to choose
If there is no way to grow this product yourself, then you should be careful when buying it in a store. Buy only fresh stems without signs of drying.
How to store
They store this vegetable in the refrigerator - this way the useful properties of leeks are preserved much longer, but you do not need to wash them before storage, you can simply remove the remaining soil from the roots. Fresh greens can lie in a cool place for three to six months, without losing their useful qualities and even slightly increasing them. Agronomists claim that vitamin C production does not stop even after pulling the onions from the ground and continues throughout the entire shelf life. In dried form, seasoning is stored for about a year, in a frozen state - for six months. The food containing this ingredient can be consumed only for two days, the dish stored above this time is discarded. This is due to the fact that this type of onion consists mainly of water. It is the presence of large amounts of water in the dish that makes it unsuitable for consumption.