Many modern amateur gardeners and mistresses do not even know what a parsnip is. This plant has long been used in cooking and used in traditional medicine. People often call it white carrots, deer feed, lamb carrots. The plant received such names for a reason. It is eagerly eaten by animals and birds.
Parsnip is an umbrella family plant . It belongs to perennials, although most often it is grown in gardens, like a biennial. It is bred in order to obtain a fleshy, sweet root, which has a peculiar aroma. In the year of sowing, a spindle-shaped root crop with a dense rosette of leaves is formed from the seeds. The outer layer of the root is yellowish-brown, and inside is whitish or cream. The following year, a hollow green stalk up to 180 cm high appears in the center of the outlet. Parsnip is a plant with an upright, bare stalk. The leaves of the plant are diclinous, strongly dissected. They are glossy above, and slightly pubescent or bare below. The apical leaves are sessile, and the lower ones are located on short petioles. Parsnip blooms with golden yellow small flowers collected in an inflorescence (umbrella). These inflorescences are formed on the lateral branches and on the top of the stem.
Parsnip is a plant that blooms in June-July. It is cross-pollinated by insects. The smell of flowers is very pleasant. The fruits of the plant ripen in September.
Parsnip - a plant in the wild almost not found in our latitudes. In Central Asia, it grows in both dry and low-humidity places almost everywhere.
We have parsnips grown for food and use in traditional and traditional medicine. It can be sown with celery, carrots, parsley. Weed and collect roots in dry weather. Parsnip, the root of which is considered the most delicious when dug after frost, contains Vitamins PP, C, carotene, essential oil, saccharides, proteins, coumarin, fiber, rutin, phosphorus, zinc, potassium, copper.
The use of parsnips prevents angina attacks, normalizes the general condition, and relieves pain with colic, stones in the bladder and kidneys. Decoctions from the roots are used for anemia, neurosis, dropsy, and female diseases.
Fresh juice from root vegetables is recommended for men with various sexual disorders. Fresh parsnip, regularly eaten, is also useful in this case. Ground plant seeds are used to improve blood circulation and vasodilation.
An aqueous infusion of root vegetables with honey is prescribed for weakening the body after serious illness. Preparation: crushed root vegetables (2 tbsp. L.) Are steamed with a glass of boiling water (it is advisable to do this in a thermos). The root should be infused all night. Add a spoonful of honey to the finished infusion and take 4 r. Before meals. per day for 1 tbsp. l
Parsnip dishes are popular all over the world. Its crushed seeds are used as a spice and added to marinades and salads. From the roots of parsnips you can cook mashed potatoes, soups, salads, casseroles.
Parsnip Salad
For the salad you need 2-3 roots, 1 carrot, 5 g of celery leaves, a little dill, 1 root crop of celery, mayonnaise, salt.
Cooking:
All peeled root crops are rubbed on a grater. Finely chopped celery leaves. All ingredients are mixed, salted and seasoned with mayonnaise. Salad is decorated with sprigs of dill.
Parsnip soup
For its preparation you will need: 2 root crops of parsnip, 2 carrots, 0.3 kg of turkey fillet, some parsley, 2 leaves of bay leaves, pepper, salt.
Scheme of preparation: the fillet is washed, cut into pieces. The meat is boiled in 1.5 liters of water until half cooked. The peeled parsnip and carrots are triturated and thrown into the broth. The soup is salted, pepper. In 5 minutes until ready, add chopped greens and bay leaf.
Spicy chips
To prepare them, you will need parsnip roots, pepper, vegetable oil, salt.
Washed root vegetables are cleaned, cut into thin strips, which are then fried in a pan for about 40 minutes until a golden crust is obtained. At the end of cooking, the chips are salted and pepper.