Little-known scorzonera plant, its calorie content and composition. The main beneficial properties, are there any contraindications for use. Variety of recipes for the preparation of root crops and cultivation features. The products obtained from the processing of scorzonera root also contain valuable compounds and can be used for food and for medicinal purposes.
Useful properties of scorpion
Dishes from the root of scorzonera can be safely introduced into the therapeutic diet of adult patients - this low-calorie product does not irritate the mucous membrane of the digestive tract, does not stimulate the secretion of digestive juices, does not increase mechanical and chemical stress on the pancreas, stomach and gallbladder.
The benefits of scorzonera are as follows:
- It has a calming effect on the central nervous system, relaxes, relieves insomnia.
- Normalizes the level of sugar in the body, it is recommended for the introduction into the diet of diabetics.
- Stimulates heart function, stabilizes heart rate.
- Improves the functioning of the urinary system and gallbladder, dissolves and removes calculi from the urinary and bile ducts.
- It has an antioxidant effect, removes radionuclides from the body.
- Cleanses the liver due to the high amount of manganese in the composition, accelerates the transformation of cholesterol.
- Has a natural anesthetic effect, eliminates intestinal spasms.
- Strengthens potency in men, stimulates sexual desire.
- Stops the destruction of cartilaginous tissue due to the high content of calcium, it is recommended to use it for arthrosis and gout.
Scorzonera is recommended to be included in the diet for anemia, liver cirrhosis, oncological diseases, diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, anemia and atherosclerosis. Frequent consumption of Spanish goat root helps to get rid of alcohol addiction.
Harm and contraindications to the use of scorzonera
In order to constantly introduce scorzonera into the daily menu, there is one contraindication - individual intolerance. This is rare, but it does happen. But this does not mean that it can be safely introduced into the diet in unlimited quantities.
In young children, the stomach and intestines are not prepared for the new product, and the stimulating properties of scorzonera can provoke indigestion - diarrhea.
It is not worth risking during pregnancy. At this time, the body's immunity is lowered, and when using a new product, allergic reactions often develop.
To determine whether it is possible to introduce scorzonera into the child's diet, for the first time it is given in the form of mashed potatoes, quite a bit - 1-2 tablespoons. For a day, they observe whether adverse symptoms have appeared: rash, redness of the skin, sore throat, cramps or bowel disorders. If nothing has arisen, you can safely use the new product in the children's menu.
Dangerous allergic manifestations - Quincke's edema or anaphylactic shock - were not observed after eating the sweet root.
Scorzonera recipes
Cooks are happy to include black carrots in recipes for various dishes - they can be stewed, fried, boiled, added raw to salads. Meat sauces with sweet root are popular with restaurant customers.
Scorzonera recipes:
- Vegetable salad … The washed scorzonera is kept for 10 minutes in a solution of vinegar with water 1/1. Then the peel is removed from the root and washed in cold water. Peel carrots and celery root, rub on a fine grater. All ingredients are taken in equal amounts, combined, mixed. Cut about half of a small daikon into slices, crush the walnut kernels and add to the mixture too. Another ingredient - celery leaves - is torn by hand and also added to the salad. Dressing - olive oil and lemon juice.
- Cheese salad … The list of ingredients is quite voluminous: feta cheese - 60 g, peeled scorzonera roots - 200 g, lettuce leaves - 10 pieces, onion - 1 piece, half a bunch of greens each - dill and parsley, half medium carrots, lemon. The vegetables are finely chopped - it is better to grate the root vegetables, cut the onion into rings, break the cheese into small pieces, tear the greens with your hands. Mix everything - no need to salt, feta cheese is salty enough, add lemon juice. Additionally, you can use any dressing: sour cream, mustard, soy sauce or vegetable oil.
- Puree … Root vegetables are washed, boiled in a peel until soft and wait for them to cool slightly. Then the peel is removed and the roots are pounded with a little butter. Salted as needed - many people like the sweetish taste, and no additional additives are required.
- Fried scorzonera … Soak 2, 5 hours 2-3 sweet roots in a peel in cold water, otherwise the delicate white flesh will turn bluish. Nutritional quality will not be affected, but the dish will look unappetizing. Then the roots are cleaned, dipped in boiling salt water, salted and acidified. For 1.5 liters of water, it is enough to add 1 tablespoon of vinegar or twice as much lemon juice. As soon as the pulp becomes elastic, the water is drained, the roots are cut, each piece is rolled in breadcrumbs and put in a pan in boiling sunflower oil. Remove after golden brown. When serving, it is advisable to sprinkle with herbs.
- Beatlets … Mix equal amounts of chicken pulp, fish fillet and peeled scorzonera root soaked in cold water. All ingredients are taken in equal parts. No need to be surprised at the unusual choice of products - a mixture of poultry and fish, the sweet root equalizes all tastes. A little salt, pepper, butter are added to the minced meat and the meatballs are formed. Steamed until cooked.
- Soup-puree … The roots, peeled and soaked in vinegar, are boiled until cooked in chicken broth, then they are taken out and chopped, interrupted with a blender, adding sour cream and raw egg yolks. Then the chopped ingredients are dipped into the boiling broth, immediately turned off, beaten again to obtain a homogeneous soup structure. Before serving, add a piece of butter to each plate.
- Spicy appetizer … Scorzonera - 1 kg, garlic - 1 medium head, vegetable oil - 5 tablespoons, seasonings to taste - ground sweet and black pepper, salt, cumin. You can use peppers in a pod. Peel the garlic, grind it with black pepper or with ground green pepper in a pod, add caraway seeds. The root is soaked in cold water, peeled, cut into circles. Everything is placed in a saucepan or deep frying pan, sprinkled with paprika and stewed for 10 minutes. Spicy food can be grated with a blender, seasoned with olive oil or mustard sauce. It is a great addition to any kind of meat.
Scorchonera leaves are as edible as the root, they can be added to salads or prepared as separate dishes from them, mixed with onions and other garden herbs.
Interesting facts about scorzonera
In Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome, Spanish carrots were not used for cooking, but they were popular for medicinal purposes. But Louis XIV - the Sun King - refused to eat without this root vegetable. La Quintini, the court gardener, called the scorzonera the best fruit of the royal gardens.
Interestingly, the poor in France were also allowed to grow these roots, and they used the permit without restrictions. The people called the root "asparagus for the poor" - it cost much less than white.
Now scorzonera is grown as a garden crop throughout South-West Asia, in the countries of southern Europe, in the modern Netherlands. It is especially popular in Italy - jams and preserves are made from black carrots, and spicy seasonings are used as a sauce for ice cream.
As a garden crop, the plant is quite picky. To get a large juicy root, the seeds must be planted at a decent depth - more than half a meter. There are requirements for the choice of soil - a deep arable layer and the introduction of a large amount of organic matter. It is best to sow the "capricious" root after the nightshade - in this case, almost all the seeds hatch.
Storage is difficult. First you need to dig out the root - this must be done very carefully. It is worth damaging the delicate pulp, and after 2-3 days the black carrot begins to rot. It is necessary to cut off the tops "at the root". Then the roots are thoroughly dried, added dropwise - containers with clean calcined sand must be prepared in advance. The sand is moistened, the scorzonera is set vertically. In this form, she should spend the whole winter. For cooking, it can be used even after the onset of heat.
Leaves are used fresh. They can also be used as food for silkworms.
How to cook scorzonera - watch the video:
It is a pity that the gigantic black root crop variety from Russia, currently most popular in Europe, which breeders worked on back in 1898, did not get into the State Register of Garden and Garden Plants of the Russian Federation. By returning the culture "home", it is possible to solve very important tasks - to improve the meager diet of people suffering from diabetes mellitus and patients in hospitals recovering from severe operations. The benefits of scorzonera for anemia have been proven empirically on several generations of patients.
