Chicory has long been known as a coffee substitute. But then again: if earlier they drank it mainly because there was no normal coffee in our stores, now they drink it with pleasure and love. From the section of diabetic and dietary products, chicory coffee migrated to the shelves with a "status" assortment.
The choice of drinks based on chicory is great, and in order to improve and enrich the taste, manufacturers produce instant chicory with various additives - sea buckthorn, lingonberries, blueberries, cinnamon, rose hips. There is packaged chicory - it can be brewed as tea, and there is ground chicory .
Polina Vlasova , gastronom.ru bild editor : “I drink chicory because it has no caffeine. And together with cream and sugar, it tastes like coffee or cocoa, which I love, but because of my poor caffeine tolerance, I can’t drink it. ”
Elena Ilyina , head of the naming department at Lexica : “I drank chicory before, because everyone around was talking about the benefits of the drink. I even tried to give it to my child. But chicory coffee did not take root with me, it does not have such a richness of taste as coffee does, it does not invigorate and does not create a spiritual atmosphere. When chicory coffee began to be made with various additives, I lost confidence in it and, having sacrificed its benefits, I returned to natural coffee.
What is chicory and chicory coffee
First of all, chicory coffee is made from the dried roots of common chicory ( not to be confused with salad chicory - this is a different species, and its culinary use is completely different). Chicory is a wild plant with pale blue flowers. Chicory tastes like coffee, but does not contain caffeine. Therefore, chicory is drunk by those to whom coffee is contraindicated - in whom blood pressure rises from coffee.
Growth zones
Chicory grows on loamy and sandy loamy fresh and dry soils along steep river banks, as well as along roadsides and slopes of ravines. Tolerates temporary lack of moisture and significant soil compaction.
Chicory flowers have long been considered medicinal. Avicenna, a well-known physician of the Middle Ages, widely used plant preparations in the treatment of a number of diseases, gastrointestinal disorders, and inflammation of the eyes. He recommended that chicory be applied externally as a dressing for gout on diseased joints. The plant was familiar to the ancient Romans and Greeks.
Chicory: benefits and harms
The chicory plant is a storehouse of usefulness. Chicory roots contain chicoryne, inulin, choline, proteins, fats, pectin, vitamins C, B1, E, fat, gum, essential oil, resin, tannins, mineral salts and a large number of trace elements. To some extent, chicory coffee can be considered as a healing drink.
Natalya Balynina , editor of the Health section of the gastronom.ru website : “Chicory contains the polysaccharide inulin, which is used to produce complex drugs. Among the claimed effects is the normalization of intestinal microflora: inulin is able to increase the number of lacto- and bifidobacteria necessary for healthy digestion, that is, it is a prebiotic. In addition, dietary supplements with inulin are recommended as absorbents for the course of detoxification of the body.
Sometimes they talk about the harm of chicory . The fact is that if you use it immoderately and every day, after a while you can get excessively swollen blood vessels.
In addition, do not forget about the time of consumption of chicory . In the morning, in small doses, it will be a tonic and invigorating remedy. And in the evening, chicory can help calm the overexcited nervous system of the day.
What is useful chicory?
Chicory is famous for its therapeutic effect on the human body, its most useful part is considered to be a root containing 60 - 70% inulin and intibin glycoside. Inulin is a natural substitute for starch and sugar, and intibin glycoside is used in medical practice as one of the means to calm the nervous system and normalize the heartbeat. In addition, chicory contains pectin, carotene, resins, vitamins C, B and other micro and macro elements. Chicory is used in the treatment of many diseases:
- Digestive system. A decoction prepared from its roots has long been considered an effective means of improving appetite and improving the activity of the pancreas. Once in the body, the trace elements that make up chicory dissolve gallstones, improve blood flow and metabolic processes in the body. Inflammatory processes in the gastrointestinal tract begin to develop more slowly if you regularly drink a drink from chicory. Inulin increases the body's resistance to disease and promotes the development of beneficial microflora in the intestines. For these reasons, with gastritis, constipation, stomach ulcers, cholelithiasis, cirrhosis, hepatitis, it is indicated to use chicory.
- Nervous system. Due to the content of vitamin B, chicory is indicated for depression, migraine, hypertension and insomnia. It perfectly invigorates and improves mood.
- The cardiovascular system. If people suffering from heart disease have to forget about coffee, then chicory will perfectly replace this drink with them. Potassium, which is enough in the root of the plant, removes excess bad cholesterol from the body and normalizes the heartbeat. For this reason, it is useful for people to drink it with tachycardia, atherosclerosis and other heart diseases. Chicory is often used in the treatment of anemia due to its high iron content.
- Obesity and diabetes. Among physicians, the plant is valued primarily because of its ability to lower blood sugar levels and improve metabolism. Therefore, the use of it regularly contributes to the treatment of diabetes and weight loss.
- Leather. Chicory has anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties, so it can be used as a wound healing agent. Decoctions of the root of the plant are used in the treatment of skin diseases such as eczema, diathesis, psoriasis, furunculosis, dermatitis and seborrhea.
- Kidneys and spleen. The plant is indicated for use in diseases of the kidneys and spleen. Its regular use helps to cleanse the body of toxins, radionuclides, heavy metals.
- Gallbladder. The use of infusion of chicory helps to reduce the stones that are in the gallbladder. In addition, it has a choleretic and anti-inflammatory effect.
Products containing chicory and a drink from it are equally useful for both adults and children. In reasonable quantities, it can be drunk by pregnant women.
Chicory: how to use
In Europe , chicory drinks have been popular for a long time, where crushed roasted chicory root is added to coffee . Children prepare a drink from chicory root with the addition of milk or cream. In Estonia, they prepare egg coffee and put chicory in fruit tea . And in Latvia, they prepare a cold drink from chicory root with the addition of honey, lemon and apple juice.
Chicory is useful to drink with milk, as it improves the absorption of milk four times.
However, this is not all. Ground chicory can be added to baked goods , especially muffin batter. A few teaspoons of chicory should be diluted in a small amount of water or milk, and it is better to sift together with flour, or add to the butter-egg mixture. Ground chicory will add a nutty flavor to baked goods .
Marianna Orlinkova , Deputy editor-in-chief of Gastronom magazine: “Once I drank, like everyone else, instant coffee. When a beloved man told me: “Why are you drinking this rubbish? Let me make you a normal coffee,” I always refused. Because "normal" real coffee - in cezve or espresso - I wanted at another time. And from instant coffee I got hot black bitterness, which for some reason my body needs. I have never added sugar or milk to it. And a couple of years ago, cute and not too expensive French jars appeared in our show-off supermarkets - chicory. A beautiful jar is half the battle for sale. I bought and tried. Perfectly dissolving drink with a nice aroma - nothing to do with coffee, well, excellent. Hot. Black. Bitter. No more instant coffee any more.”
Recipe for kvass with chicory for 5 liters
There is no particular difference between the first recipe and the one above. Only the number of products changes. I want to say right away that always take a larger pot so that when boiling, the liquid does not leak out. This is advice from me, because I know how foam likes to rise when boiling chicory.
And yes, it is also not necessary to cover the pan when boiling, otherwise a similar situation with milk will turn out.
Ingredients:
- Chicory - 2 tbsp. l.
- Water - 5 l
- Sugar - 400 g
- Dry yeast - 1.5 tsp.
- Citric acid - 1 tsp.
Cooking method:
1. Pour 5 liters of water into the pan and put on fire. Bring water to a boil and at this point add sugar and chicory. We stir all the contents until dissolved and wait until our solution boils again.
2. After the drink boils, add citric acid to it, just do it gradually, in 2 doses. It's just that acid, when it comes into contact with boiling water, causes a bubbling reaction, and if you have a small saucepan, then there is a high probability that some of the liquid will spill onto the stove.
3. When all the ingredients have been added, leave the solution to cool to 35 ° C. As soon as the liquid has reached the desired temperature, pour in the yeast, mix everything and leave at room temperature for a day.
As for the yeast itself, you can use any, I constantly use Voronezh, they are good for both baking and drinks.
4. After 3 hours, bubbles can already be observed on the surface of the drink - this is a good sign, which means that the yeast has started working.
After a day, kvass will be ready, pour it into plastic bottles or other containers and place it in a cool place to cool. The drink is best served cold.
Recipes - what to cook with chicory
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The healing properties of chicory: recipes for various diseases
Medicine knows many recipes with this herb for various diseases. The beneficial properties of instant chicory make up a rather long list. And recent studies have found a link between the use of chicory and a decrease in cancerous tumors.
With diabetes
With this disease, you can prepare infusions and decoctions of herbs. You need to take only natural raw materials. Grass with all sorts of additives, including sugar chicory, can do more harm than good.
Soluble herb powder (purchased or prepared by yourself) is poured with hot water in the proportion: 1 teaspoon per glass. You need to let the drink brew, drink 3-4 cups a day. It is allowed to add a sweetener or honey.
For a decoction, you need a root that needs to be finely chopped. For 1 liter of hot water, 20 grams of raw materials are taken, boiled for 15-20 minutes over low heat. The drink is drunk after straining, chilled, ½ cup three times a day before meals - for 15 minutes. The course of treatment with such a decoction is 30 days.
With pancreatitis
Chicory powder - 2 teaspoons, boiling water - 1 cup. Mix the ingredients and cook over low heat for 5 minutes. Cool the broth and drink a little during the day. The course is three weeks.
Milk and water in half - 1 cup, grass root powder - ½ teaspoon (gradually can be increased to a whole). Brew raw materials with hot liquid, cool and drink 20 minutes before each meal during the day.
With gastritis
For 1 liter of water, 100 grams of the root of the plant is taken, the mixture is boiled for 30 minutes, then filtered, cooled. Take a decoction of 10 ml three times a day before meals.
Recipes based on a medicinal plant
After considering the topic of instant chicory beneficial properties and contraindications, we will move on to recipes.
In diet food stores, tea and coffee departments, and pharmacies, you can buy instant chicory to make an aromatic drink. It is possible to prepare the powder from the root of the plant yourself at home. Which way to choose? Decision is on you.
How to prepare instant chicory?
The benefits and harms of soluble chicory have been highlighted earlier. And now you want to use it. It is sold in soft paper packaging, plastic and glass jars. All you need is to purchase a product in the store. This is an easy and quick way to prepare a drink.
- Recipe number 1. Soluble chicory in the amount of 0.5-1 teaspoon pour 200 ml of hot water (but not boiling water), add a slice of lemon and honey to taste.
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