Call me lazy, but throughout my career, I’ve always despised picking soft herbs. It takes for ever and is a complete waste of time and produce. The stalks of most soft herbs, from parsley to basil, are perfectly palatable, and add an extra level of complexity to a dish. Stems are more fibrous than leaves, so discard any woody ones and cut finely across the grain (much as you would a steak), to make them digestible and delicious.
To write this article, I bought two bunches of flat parsley and spent several minutes picking one of them. The other I prepared using a simple root-to-fruit technique, leaving them bunched and chopping from the bottom up, starting very finely on the stalk, then roughly chopping the leaves. The bunch including the stalks yielded 300% more and, of course, included lots of dietary fibre, which is lacking in modern diets and essential for gut health.
If, however, you still feel the need to pick your parsley, you can either turn the stalks into a green oil, cut them finely to use as a flavoursome garnish, blend into a green sauce or turn them into today’s parsley stem ceviche.
Parsley stem and jackfruit ceviche
When they are cut with care, parsley stalks look very attractive and make a unique garnish. This dish was inspired by one at Estela in New York, which is known for its bold and striking style – there, they serve razor clams topped with little rounds of parsley stem. You can also use this dressing to make any sort of ceviche, from shredded oyster mushroom to sustainably sourced fish.
½ green chilli
6 parsley stalks
2 limes, juiced
240g cooked jackfruit, shredded
Broccoli flowers, to garnish (optional)
Finely chop the chilli (with or without seeds, depending on your taste) and three parsley stalks, then bash to a paste in a mortar or small food processor.
Add the lime juice and a little zest if they’re organic and fungicide-free, then toss the jackfruit with half the parsley mixture and serve in a bowl topped with some more finely chopped parsley stems, a few broccoli flowers for colour, and the remaining dressing.
