At the stalls they sell it as parsley. It may spoil the taste of the vegetable salad

It’s easy to make a mistake in the store – we don’t read the label or pay attention to the appearance of the vegetable. As a result, we may be dealing with a completely different aroma that will not go well with the taste of well-known dishes. For this reason, we tell you how to distinguish parsley from parsnips.

Parsley and parsnips are extremely similar. These are plants that belong to Apiaceae family — they have a white storage root and underground leaves. However, if we know what to look for, we can easily tell them apart. The main difference that becomes important in the kitchen is their taste. Parsnips are sweeter and milder than slightly spicy parsley. In ancient times it was even used for sweetening. Its taste also translates into the composition of the vegetable – parsnips contain twice as much sugar as parsley, which additionally translates into caloric value.

You can also feel the difference in smell – the parsley aroma has characteristic nutty notes. Parsnips, on the other hand, smell simply sweet. Its aroma is also much weaker, often barely noticeable.

See also:

Taste and smell are not everything. We can also distinguish these two vegetables by their appearance – you just need to know what to look for. The easiest way is to look at find — parsnip leaves are lighter in color and have hairs. Parsley, on the other hand, has darker and shiny shoots, devoid of hairs. However, in stores we often deal only with the root. What then?

Minor differences can also be noticed in the root. Parsnips are larger than parsley — but this is not an indicator. It is easy to find vegetables of all sizes in the store. For this reason, it is worth looking at the end of the vegetable. In parsnips, it is most often concave and has a characteristic black border. In turn, the bases of parsley leaves are wider than those of parsnips.

Even if we know these differences, we may ultimately not know what we are dealing with in the store. For this reason, labels can be helpful, as well as the help of honest sellers.

It’s worth remembering that both vegetables are healthy and should find a place in our diet. Each of them has its advantages and disadvantages. Parsley has slightly more vitamins than parsnips and is lower in calories. Its composition includes vitamin A, C, calcium, magnesium and iron. However, parsnips contain more fiber and less sodium. In turn, the content of vitamin B6 in both vegetables is comparable.

Source: trocheinnacukiernia.home.blog, dietetyki.org.pl