Content
Green salad lovers have long been familiar with frisée. This variety is famous for its rich composition and unique spicy taste with a slight bitterness. Due to the fact that frisée salad is low in calories, nutritionists recommend including it in the diet when losing weight.
Frisée salad is eaten fresh; the plant cannot be stored for long periods of time.
Description of frisee salad
Frisé lettuce, also called frisse or curly endive, is an annual plant. It got its name because of its appearance, because “frise” is translated from French as “curly.”
The bush is small and compact. The plant itself resembles chicory in appearance, and is similar in size to head lettuce. The leaves look attractive, slightly velvety to the touch and quite juicy. They are curly in appearance, almost white with yellowness towards the center, and light green at the edges. Due to the peculiarities of cultivation, namely the deprivation of light during the period of active growth, pronounced bitterness disappears, and the leaves acquire a pleasant, delicate taste.
Advantages and disadvantages
Curly endive is considered very beneficial due to its rich composition. These greens are often included in the diet menu.
Frisee leaves can be used as an additive to various dishes, or as an independent side dish.
Pros:
- interesting appearance that allows you to decorate any dish;
- rich composition;
- low calorie content;
- pleasant taste with a spicy bitterness;
- good combination with meat, fish, seafood, cheeses, vegetables.
Minuses:
- requires special rules when growing (excluding exposure to sunlight);
- Can only be consumed fresh;
- When cooking, the leaves should not be cut with a knife.
Composition and calorie content of frisee salad
Frisée salad has a unique composition. It contains a large amount of vitamins and microelements, as well as valuable plant fiber. Intibin, which imparts bitterness, which is synthesized in the plant, changes metabolic processes in the body, speeds them up, preventing fat deposits.
The leaves of the plant contain up to 90 g of water and 0.8 g of dietary fiber. The composition also contains vitamins such as:
- beta-carotene (A);
- ascorbic acid (C);
- E;
- PP;
- B1 and B2.
Among the microelements it is worth noting:
- potassium;
- calcium;
- phosphorus;
- magnesium;
- sodium;
- iron.
The calorie content of the leaves is low, only 14 kcal per 100 g. Chemical composition:
- proteins – 1.5 g;
- carbohydrates – 2.2 g;
- fats – 0.
Health benefits of frisee salad
The benefits of eating fresh frisée salad are due to its rich composition. It has a beneficial effect on the cardiovascular system, since under the influence of intibin the number of red blood cells increases. The presence of beta-carotene reduces the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease.Ascorbic acid, together with a number of other vitamins, increases the body's protective functions.
The presence of potassium in the plant helps strengthen blood vessels and heart muscle. And the high fiber content helps improve the functioning of the digestive system.
With the systematic use of curly leaves, the following improvements in the body can be observed:
- lowering cholesterol levels;
- strengthening the nervous system;
- improved vision;
- proper bowel function;
- increased appetite;
- acceleration of cell regeneration;
- weight loss.
Application
Frisée salad is a popular food in Western countries. Its beneficial qualities were also appreciated by Russian nutritionists, so it increasingly began to be present in the diet of those who adhere to proper nutrition.
Green leaves can be used to prepare various snacks and salads. They are used as a complement to meat (greens go especially well with bacon), seafood and cheeses.
Curly lettuce is often used for decoration, as a component of dishes, and even as an independent side dish. As a dressing for the leaves, you can use olive oil, lemon juice or mayonnaise-based sauce.
Spicy taste with a slight bitterness complements the taste of meat well, and also smoothes out the harshness of citrus fruits in fruit salads
To make the most of frisée salad, it is important to eat it fresh. Wilted leaves not only change their taste, becoming very bitter, but also lose nutrients.
Before use, frisée lettuce leaves are washed under cold running water. It is not recommended to cut them, as the greens will release a lot of bitter juice. Therefore, you should tear the salad with your hands immediately before serving. In rare cases, you can use a ceramic knife for chopping. The salad should also be dressed immediately before eating.
Growing Frisée Lettuce
Frisee lettuce is considered an unpretentious plant, so it can be grown both in open ground and at home on a windowsill. The main thing is to know some of the nuances in order to end up with a quality product.
How to grow in open ground
Frisée lettuce seeds can be purchased at a specialty store. Usually they are already ready for planting and do not require preliminary manipulations.
Seeds should be sown in a previously dug area. The soil should be nutritious and loose. Planting is carried out in rows, maintaining a distance between the sowing lines of at least 30 cm, and the same distance is maintained between the bushes in the row.
After sowing, the seeds are watered and covered until seedlings emerge. Subsequent care consists of timely watering, loosening and removing weeds. During the period of active growth, when a head-shaped bunch begins to form, the leaves are collected and tied tightly. This growing method is called blanching. Due to the lack of light in the middle of the head of cabbage, the leaves will have a light shade. This is the salad that is considered suitable for consumption.
Leaves can be collected 30-35 days after the first shoots appear. Frisée should be used for cooking immediately after being collected from the garden. Greens cannot be stored for long periods of time.
Growing frisée lettuce on a windowsill
To grow frisée lettuce on a windowsill, you also buy seeds. Prepare a spacious container, the length of which should be at least 50 cm and the width at least 20 cm (the longer the tray, the more plants can be planted in it).
You can purchase a universal substrate or mix it yourself from equal parts of turf soil, compost and peat. You can add sand, wood ash and urea to the soil mixture.
There must be holes in the bottom of the container through which excess moisture will escape. The first layer is made of drainage from small pebbles, expanded clay, or you can use synthetic winterizer. Then they fill the soil and moisten it. Sow the seeds at a distance of about 25-30 cm. Subsequent care and collection are identical to cultivation in open ground.
When grown on a windowsill, frisée salad also requires excluding sunlight by tying the leaves tightly in a bunch.
Conclusion
Frisee salad has a pleasant taste with a slight bitterness and an attractive appearance. Its light green leaves are a great addition to meat dishes and seafood snacks. It's perfect with cheese and red wine. The useful composition allows it to be used as a component of the diet menu. The only drawback is that the leaves should be consumed fresh; if stored for a long time, the salad begins to taste very bitter and becomes viscous in taste.
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