How to use leek?

Leek is not as popular in our kitchen as its peasant onions. It's a pity! They served it to the rich people table in ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome. They considered this vegetable more refined to taste than onions and garlic.In addition, he was famous for its useful qualities.

In our time, we somehow bypass this king-vegetable, underestimate its properties. On the shelves of shops we see it infrequently, and vegetable growers practically do not supply it to the food markets. And the reason is that we know little about this plant and do not know how to cook it. Therefore, let's understand what this vegetable is useful for and how it is used in cooking.

Leek is an annual herb native to the Mediterranean. Now they have learned to grow it everywhere, because it can adapt to any climate.

The green leaves of the onion are wide, flat, hard, as if covered in wax. The taste of the white part is sweet-hot.

It is 90% water, but it is a real storehouse of vitamins and minerals that are important to a person for productive life. The energy value of his 33 kcal per 100 grams.

Beneficial features:

• rich in calcium, sodium, iron, sulfur, phosphorus, potassium, magnesium;
• contains folic, nicotinic and ascorbic acid, essential oils;
• rich in vitamins B, H, PP, C, A, E.

Please note that during storage, the amount of vitamin C in onions only increases. Vegetable is successfully used in cosmetology, in medicine. Carotene supports eyesight and improves hair condition. Essential oils enhance immunity and maintain skin tone. Low calorie plants explains its presence in many diet recipes.

With all the positive properties of the leek can be dangerous to health: A large intake of onions increases acidity in the stomach and blood pressure, so it can not be eaten by those who suffer from gastrointestinal diseases and hypertension. When onions are abused while breastfeeding, milk has a peculiar taste that can lead to the baby’s refusal to eat. Leek can cause an allergic reaction like urticaria.

Leek is a versatile product. As soon as it is not consumed, it is fresh and boiled, frozen, salted, pickled, and dried. From it is prepared as independent dishes, and seasonings or additives to vegetable preparations.

Apply onions in food must be properly: only the white part of onions and the lower young leaves are suitable. Cooks most often hard green leaves are thrown away. But economical housewives have found the use of this part of the vegetable. They bind the green leaves in the form of a bundle and boil them in the soup, and at the end of the preparation they pull out like a bay leaf. There is another way to use green leaves for soups. They need to be finely cut and add to the soup immediately at the beginning of cooking.

A lot of surprisingly tasty dishes are cooked from leek. Consider some recipes.

Fresh onions (1 pc.) Are washed, cut into rings, salt and knead. Do it carefully. Boiled eggs (3 pcs.) Chop finely. All mix and add white yogurt or sour cream. Sprinkle with fresh dill, and you can eat.

We take all the ingredients in equal proportions, for example, 400 g each. We wash the leek, dry it on a towel, cut it into ringlets. Add it to shredded Peking cabbage in a cup. On a coarse grater, rub apples, previously cleaned and without seeds, and combine them with prepared vegetables. Salt, pepper and mix. Dress the salad with vegetable oil or sour cream. Can be used as a side dish for fish or meat dishes.

Very easy to prepare. White leek stem (1 pc.) Cut into thin circles. Closely rub black radish (1 pc.). Boiled eggs (2 pcs.) Grind. Mix everything and add pickled corn (the contents of one jar). We fill the finished salad with white yogurt or a mixture of thick sour cream and mustard, mayonnaise.

Onions (1 pc.) And leek (1 pc.) Cut into half rings. Potatoes (450 g) and bacon strips (4 pcs.) - diced. Fry bacon in vegetable or butter (1.5 tablespoons) in a pan, add onion and fry for another 5 minutes. After turning down the fire, put the potatoes in a saucepan and pour the meat broth (1.2 l). Bring everything to a boil and cook for another 20 minutes. Add salt and ground black pepper. In the plates with the soup put chopped fresh herbs and 1 tbsp. l sour cream.

Dough: kefir - 1 cup, eggs - 3 pcs., Mayonnaise - 200 g, flour -1.5 cups, salt, sugar and baking powder. Of all the ingredients knead the dough.

Then we start to prepare the filling for the cake. To do this, onion stalks (2 pcs.) Chop rings, salt and fry in vegetable oil. Cheese (150 - 200 g) three finely grated. Onions mix with cheese.

Turn on the oven 180 degrees and start cooking the cake. Divide the dough into two halves. Grease the form with butter and pour the first part of the dough into it, then add the onion filling and pour the rest of the dough. For twenty-five to thirty minutes bake a cake.

Cut the stem of a leek (2 pcs.) Into half rings and simmer in a pan under the lid in vegetable oil. After 10 minutes, remove from heat and leave to cool. Peel potatoes, boil and ceiling. Grate cheese. All mix, adding two eggs, ground pepper, chopped herbs and salt. From the dough we form flat small cutlets, roll them down in flour or bread crumbs and fry in vegetable oil. Serve pancakes with sour cream.

Cut chicken fillet (400 g) into pieces. Leek shred rings and fry in a pan in vegetable oil. Add pieces of chicken, fry, stirring occasionally. When the chicken is ready, pour the dressing, which consists of soy sauce (4 tbsp.) And honey (1 tsp.). Stew on low heat for two minutes. Serve chicken to the table hot.

Carrots (6 - 7 pcs.) Chop straws, leek (1 - 2 pcs.) - circles and fry them in vegetable oil for 5 minutes. Then, turning down the heat, add white wine (3-4 tablespoons l.) And simmer for 10 minutes. We salt. This dish can be used as a salad or as a side dish for meat or fish.

Needed 500 g of onions, 250 g of tomatoes, 1 teaspoon of flour, 0.5 cups of sour milk, 3 tbsp. spoons of vegetable oil, sugar, salt, pepper.

Cut leek, fry in oil, add peeled and chopped tomatoes. Fry and introduce, stirring constantly, flour, and then milk, sugar, pepper. Salt and bring to a boil.

Fillet of any fish (300 g) cut into cubes. Onions (3 pcs.) Shred the rings, fry in butter. Cook for 5 minutes. Add fish to the onion, mix it and, covered with a lid, stew until ready. Five minutes before the end of cooking, we reduce the heat, add cream (200 ml), salt and ground pepper.

Leek is especially known in traditional medicine. It has the most beneficial effect on the human body when it is fresh.

Regular use of it in various dishes is also useful, because it:

• improves metabolic processes;
• stabilizes the gastrointestinal tract;
• strengthens the nerves;
• invigorates, improves memory;
• contributes to the preservation of vision;
• boosts immunity;
• interferes with aging processes;
• strengthens the heart;
• possesses antimicrobial action;
• helps to eliminate fluid from the body.

We offer a few simple folk recipes.

• If boils are tortured or bitten by a wasp, grind the white part of onion and gruel applied to the wound. Cover with foil and tie with a bandage for several hours. Onion pulls pus, removes swelling.
• For two or three days you can cure a sore throat, if you gargle leek juice several times a day.
• Inhalation is beneficial for pneumonia. Onions should be grated and breathed in pairs.

We offer some tips who will reveal the secrets of cooking and storing leek.

• The most delicious onion is young, so buy stems about 4 cm thick.
• In the refrigerator for storage it is put unwashed in a plastic bag. If the onion is wet, you must first dry it, laying out on a paper towel. In this form, the vegetable can be stored for about a week.
• If you need to boil the onions, then cut it first, and then boil it in salted water for at least 5 minutes. To make mashed onion boil it should be 10 - 15 minutes.
• Since the middle of the stem is tough, cooks recommend cutting it out.
• When frying with other vegetables, focus not on the ruddy color of the onion, but on its structure. Ready leek is always soft.
• Beat off the onion stalk with the side of the knife, then the rings can be easily separated from each other when cutting.
• To reduce cooking time, use leek, pre-sliced ​​and frozen in the refrigerator. Defrosting is not necessary, immediately enter it in a dish that is cooked on the stove.

How to make a delicious leek dish, see the next video.