Parsley is a wonderful culinary and nutritional herb!
Nutritionally, it rich in anti-oxydant such as carotenoids (even better than the carrot). It is also great source of the minerals manganese, iron; and vitamins folate, C and K.
From a culinary point of view, not only does its green colour livens up a dish but it brings wonderful flavours to salads, soup, vegetables, rice.
Another great thing with parsley - and herbs in general - is that it reduces the need for salt to bring out flavour from a dish. When we use herbs, we naturally reduce the added-salt content.
A great way to add parsley to your plate is to prepare a "Persillade":
In a mortar, crush 2-3 garlic cloves and add 2 handfuls of chopped parsley, a pinch of salt and mix it together while stirring in progressively 1 tbsp. of olive oil. You should get a very fragrant paste.
Store it in a jar and keep it in your fridge and use it whenever you feel like it. It will keep for many weeks.
For example:
Add a teaspoonful of persillade to pan-fried vegetables (e.g., mushrooms, potatoes, carrots, red peppers) or to your pan-fried chicken, beef strips or prawns. Just make sure that you don't cook it for more than 1 minutes or you will loose the flavour.
Add a tablespoonful your soup or your stew to give it a bit of a kick, just before serving.
In a salad, add just a small knife point, to bring a zing to it
A useful tip:
Buy a large bunch of parsley as it is so much cheaper than buying just a few sprigs.
To keep it fresh, it needs a bit of moisture so, once the bag is open, the trick is to roll your bunch into 2 sheets of kitchen roll; lightly damp the kitchen roll; wrap it back into its plastic bag; and back into the fridge veg drawer. The herb will stay in good condition for several weeks!