I'm obsessed with parsley. Not that curly-leafed bullshit sitting next to your petite filet, I'm talking about the flat-leaf variety that's known for its tender texture and sweeter flavor. If you get some fresh from the farmers market you'll notice a much more robust flavor than the grocery store varieties. Two vendors representing the IRC sponsored community gardens had parsley for sale at the last two White Rock Local Markets. They're asking just a dollar for each bunch. You should offer them two.
That super-fresh vegetal flavor will fade in the first day or two, but the stuff will continue to green up your dishes for much longer. Just wash the leaves and then store them in a big Ziploc bag, with a wet piece of paper towel lining one side, and you'll have fresh parsley for weeks.
What do you do with it? Everything.
If you want to celebrate parsley for all it's worth, buy a few bundles of the farmers market stuff and make yourself some tabbouleh. Go light on the bulgur wheat and tomatoes, heavy on the lemon and olive oil and you'll end up with the best tabbouleh in all of Dallas. I mean it. Nobody uses parsley that fresh.
If tabbouleh tastes too much like rabbit food, try a little parsley in pretty much anything you plan to cook from this day forth. I just spent a few minutes on two different recipes websites and I couldn't find a single dish that wouldn't benefit from at least a modest sprinkling of parsley (See you in the comments below, trolls). If it comes out of a skillet, put parsley on it. If you take it off the grill, put parsley on it. You can add as little or as much as you like; it's your dinner. Add whole parsley leaves pulled from the stems to your salads for some texture and flavor. Add parsley to other tender herbs for a fines herbes salad.
Too much parsley? Try mincing in more finely and cooking it into your dishes just before they're finished. Still too much parsley? Try making a compound butter with the finest mince you can manage. Put a dollop of that on your steak. I don't care how you do it just do it. Pick up that parsley leaf that once sat beside your food and enjoy it as food itself. You'll thank me.
