GARDEN FRESH : Parsley: Don’t Take It for Garnish

We’ve gotten in the habit of whacking up a handful of parsley and throwing it over a dish, or tweaking sprigs from a bunch and sticking them on a plate--then tossing the sprigs out with the leavings as though they were some inedible decoration. The thing to do is look at parsley afresh.

Imagine that you’d never seen parsley before and someone brought you a plant.

Gorgeous! The clear deep-green, the graceful lines of the leaves seem to stir something primeval. Traditionally, the leafy sprig on the Passover Seder plate that symbolizes new life and hope is parsley--not thyme or chervil (although in France, I suppose, it might be).

Now take a bite. To me, parsley tastes like water from a pristine creek--crystalline, mossy, with the nip of crisp mountain air.

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In this country and in Britain, curled-leaf parsley is the ranking herb. Cultivars are becoming increasingly curled--from single to double to triple--and most are as felty as an English bank where wild parsley grows. Although it’s not the preferred herb on the Continent, parsley is loved. There, though, it’s flat-leaf parsley--known as Italian in this country--that is favored. It’s considered to have richer taste.

Curled or flat, parsley leaves in a composition have a way of being either vibrant or subtle. Sprinkle them, finely chopped, over steamed potatoes, carrots, snap beans, boiling onions--or sauteed mushrooms, eggplant, summer squash, peppers and tomatoes--and the leaves slip gracefully into the background. Add chopped parsley to coleslaw, egg salad, a plate of cold meats, cucumber salad, bean salad, shredded raw kohlrabi or carrots, and the parsley chimes out clear as a bell. I suspect hot food wilts the leaves just enough to take the edge off their flavor.

Unlike some herbs, parsley holds up well in cooking. A small bunch simmered with the makings of chicken soup gives enormous depth to the broth. You can add parsley at the beginning of any stew or sauce, but always add a little that’s freshly chopped before serving to underscore the flavor and brighten the color.

But parsley shouldn’t always be a bridesmaid. Devotees eat parsley as a vegetable. And why not? Why is curly chicory regarded as a salad vegetable but parsley’s still an herb? A grand British tradition is parsley pie--a little meat and lots of parsley. If you’ve tasted the luxury garnish, deep-fried parsley, you know you could have eaten a whole bowlful. Parsley salad--lots of chopped parsley, a little minced celery and chopped hard-boiled egg--is divine.

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When it’s practical, it’s best to chop parsley--all herbs, in fact--by hand, whether fresh or dried. You have absolute control over the texture, and only a little of the leaves’ juice and oil is lost in the chopping space on your board. In a food processor, they’re spread all over the work bowl and it’s next to impossible to scrape them off.

If you like the taste of market parsley, your own will taste twice as good because only moments pass from picking to mouth. Hereabouts, you can harvest it year round.

The best sowing time for parsley is from one month before to one month after spring’s last frost or the time when you can expect the weather to settle. Now is the perfect time. But you can’t be in a hurry. Parsley seeds take weeks to germinate. To hasten the process, pour boiling water over them in a small dish, then let soak overnight. Next morning, sprinkle the seeds over a container of soil-less mix and grow indoors, or sow directly in the ground. Cover with 1/4 inch of soil mixed half and half with compost (from the nursery). Mist carefully so as not to scatter the seeds. From then on, keep the soil moist.

Although slow, parsley is as undemanding a plant as you can grow. And one of the handsomest. It’s hardy and will live two years or longer--I have an Italian parsley plant many years old. Where winters are cold, parsley plants may vanish for a few months, but they’ll come back sassy as jay birds in spring. Give parsley full sun or a few hours of afternoon shade if your summer’s ferocious. Plants will grow in average soil but prosper in moisture-retentive, well-draining loam, so dig compost and peat moss into clay soil.

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Added to the ease of growing parsley is that it self-sows. It likely won’t flower the first year, but next summer it will send up flowering shoots. For the plants from which you’ll want leaves, always pinch off flowering shoots at the base the moment they appear. But let a couple of plants bloom and set seeds. The wind and birds will scatter the seeds over your garden, and if you don’t disturb the soil too much, the following summer there will be baby parsleys to transplant where you’d like them to grow. This happy cycle can go on forever.

If you can spare a square foot or two, set aside a couple of plants to grow seeds. When the seeds have almost dried, lay a sheet under them and let the seeds drop onto it. Seeds of parsley are as tasty a condiment as seeds of caraway and celery.

Plants in the parsley family are a favorite food of many insects. The ferny leaves and petite umbrellas of flowers attract all manner of beneficial insects (those that polish off unbeneficial insects). Since the parsley grows a foot or more tall, I mix it among miniature day lilies, the ruffled with the smooth.

Even if you’re not a gardener, you can grow parsley in a pot. In fact, that’s how to have parsley nonstop if you live in an extreme climate. Set two plants three inches apart in an 8-inch pot in well-draining soil mix. In a 10-inch pot, you could add three pinches of sweet alyssum or lobelia around the edges. When it gets too hot or too cold outdoors, bring the pot indoors and set it in a well-lit place. Keep it moist but not wet, and spray with a diluted solution of liquid fish one month, then the same of kelp solution the next. After fertilizing, wait a few days before harvesting, then rinse well.

To harvest, pick outside stalks at the base, never taking more than one-third the plant, and always leaving the new growth at the center.

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Beauty of form, purity of flavor, generosity in the garden, what more could we ask of a leaf? That it be nourishing. Parsley is--it’s loaded with Vitamin C. So we’ve seen our old friend in a new light. Time to sow your seeds.

SOURCES:

For seeds, you can find reliable cultivars on a nursery rack. Look for “curled” or “moss” in the name for a curled-leaf parsley, and “Italian” or “flat” in the name for the flat-leaf sort. Be sure the seeds were packed for this year.

For parsley from a flavor specialist, send for Krausa curled and/or Catalogno flat-leaf from the Cook’s Garden, P.O. Box 535, Londonderry, Vt. 05148.

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I reach for chicken breasts when I need to serve something fast, easy and delicious. When the dish must be ultra-lean, I blanket the breasts with parsley and simmer them in cider, then add a counterpoint of lemon and a tad of creamy yogurt. A golden Soave complements the grassy parsley, and the sauce is lovely mashed into steamed potatoes and carrots. A crunchy bitter salad of chicory dressed with balsamic vinegar follows, then fresh strawberries and meringue cookies for dessert.

The parsley may be chopped several hours in advance (the amount is most of a bunch the size of which you’d find at the market). Cider (or apple juice) reconstituted from frozen has the freshest flavor. The dish takes less than half an hour, start to finish.

PARSLEYED CHICKEN BREASTS IN APPLE CIDER 6 skinless boneless chicken breast halves, about 2 1/2 pounds, trimmed of fat, at room temperature 2 cups minced parsley leaves and tender stalks 1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch 1 1/2 cups apple cider or juice 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice 1 heaping tablespoon yogurt Salt Freshly ground white pepper Using broad side of chef’s knife or wax paper and rolling pin, lightly pound chicken breasts until evenly thick.

Spread 2/3 cup parsley over bottom of 10- to 11-inch nonreactive skillet. Fit in chicken. Dissolve cornstarch in some cider in small bowl. Pour cider mixture over chicken, add remaining cider and shake skillet to blend. Sprinkle 2/3 cup parsley over chicken.

Set skillet uncovered over highest heat and bring to simmer, shaking occasionally. Turn heat to low, cover and simmer gently. Depending on thickness of pieces, start testing for doneness after 8 minutes. Make small cut with sharp knife in center of 1 piece (flesh should no longer be pink). Cooking time should be about 10 minutes altogether. Be careful not to overcook. Lift chicken onto heated platter, cover and keep warm.

Raise heat under skillet to highest and rapidly cook sauce until thickened, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat, whisk in lemon juice and yogurt. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Moisten chicken with sauce and turn rest into hot serving bowl. Sprinkle remaining 1/3 cup parsley over chicken and sauce and serve. Makes 6 servings.

Each serving contains about: 219 calories; 125 mg sodium; 65 mg cholesterol; 10 grams fat; 11 grams carbohydrates; 22 grams protein; 0.37 gram fiber.