Chicory salads

Family - Compositae. Motherland - the countries of Eurasia and North Africa. Its cultural forms are grown to produce alcohol and coffee substitute. In recent years, for the production of tender greens, chicory salads are becoming very popular: vitluf, endive, escaril. These plants have been known since the time of ancient Rome. They are very beautiful, and they are often grown as ornamental plants on beds and flower beds. According to the nutritional value of the chicory salads are not inferior to the usual salad. They contain a lot of vitamins and digestible carbohydrates.

Endive salads, escaril and vitluf grow beautifully and yield in the room conditions on the windowsills, on the glazed balconies and loggias.

This is an annual or biennial plant, in the rooms they are cultivated only as annuals.

The stems of chicory salads are erect, branched. The leaves are colored yellow-green or yellow. Radical leaves are cut, petiolate leaves form a rosette at the base, making a small head.

Chicory salads are plants of a long day. They need light lasting not less than 12 hours, in this case there is a rapid growth of tender leaves.

The seed consumption during sowing in the box is 0.5 - 1 g per 0.5 m2.Varieties of endivia: Bryophyte, Green curly, Yellow curly. Varieties of escarole: Early winter, Broad-leaved yellow and others.

♦ Accommodation. Containers with seeded seeds in the period before the shoots are kept in warm, dark rooms at a temperature of not less than +20 - + 25 ° C.Seedlings appear on the 5th - 8th day after sowing. To obtain a normal crop, the vessels with plants are rearranged on the window sill near the light, where the temperature should be + 15 - + 20 ° C.At this time there is an increase in rosette leaves, the number of which can reach 80 - 100. At this time, it is recommended to systematically cut off the leaves and use them for preparing salads and other dishes.

♦ Planting and care. Sow the seeds of chicory salads directly in boxes or pots followed by a pick, which is carried out a week after emergence. Optimal plant nutrition in the indoor conditions is 15x15 cm. To lighten the leaves of chicory salads and reduce the amount of bitter substances, they are temporarily covered with lightproof material. This process lasts 2 - 2.5 weeks, at this time the amount of intibine( a substance giving a bitter taste) decreases in the leaves. After 50 - 80 days after emergence, a flower shoot appears, during this period it is necessary to finish harvesting.

Chicory salads are very useful, as they supply the table with beautiful greenery all autumn and winter. For winter distillation, plants with roots( bought or grown houses) are placed in boxes of 40 - 45 cm in height and put in dark cellars, closets with low temperature. Peat, sawdust or earth with a layer of 15-17 cm is necessarily poured on the bottom of boxes. For a direct forcing, as necessary, several plants are taken and brought into a warm room. As soon as fresh leaves appear, they are immediately cut off, avoiding gardening. All other care( watering, fertilization) is carried out in the same way as it is done when growing a normal salad. When watering, we must ensure that water does not get inside the rosette of the leaves, - the leaves may rot.

♦ Pests and diseases. Chicory salads are affected by cabbage leaf block. When the substrate is too wet, yellowing and shedding of leaves.

♦ Reproduction - by seeds.

Application of

In food terms, endive and escarole are used as conventional salads. Their tender greens are very useful in raw form and at the same time is an ornament of various meat dishes. These salads are often used to prepare a side dish for meat and fish dishes.

Salad with mushrooms

1-2 heads of escaril or endivia to clean, wash. Mushrooms put out and marinated with a mixture of olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper for 10 minutes. Leave the salad on a plate. Handful of sorrel leaves finely chopped, mixed with small tomatoes and prepared mushrooms, put on lettuce leaves. Serve to the table with toasted bread slices.

The medicinal use of chicory and its individual species has been known since ancient times.

They are used as a means to stimulate the appetite and improve the activity of the intestine, especially with gastritis and colitis. The leaves of endivia and escarole contain insulin, used in diabetes. A glycoside intibin improves the digestibility of human body meat and fish dishes.