Melilot sweet clover (yellow melilot, ribbed melilot)

Sweet clover leaves contain a fairly large amount (up to 389 mg%) of ascorbic acid, vitamin E, and carotene.
The flowering tops of sweet clover, complete with leaves, are harvested for cooking and medicinal purposes. This should be done during the hottest times of the year, when, according to Bunin, "gnats buzz over the fields, a saffron light hovers over the world." This is when sweet clover has its strongest scent.
Sweet clover should be dried in the shade, otherwise it will lose its color and aroma. It's best to store it in sealed glass or metal jars; it has a shelf life of two years.
Although the spice is rarely consumed as food, it should be noted that it is harmful to those who have poor blood clotting.
The normal daily dose of fresh sweet clover leaves is 100 g, dried - 25 g. Overdose can cause poisoning.
To flavor kissels and compotes, a bag of dried sweet clover leaves and inflorescences (at a rate of 2 teaspoons per liter) is boiled together with other ingredients and removed at the end of cooking.

Along with the medicinal sweet clover, two more food species are collected, and, first of all, the white sweet clover ( Melilotus albus ), which grows in the same places and often forms common thickets with the medicinal one (and is cultivated together with it).
White sweet clover is distinguished by the wrinkled pods and white flowers (medicine experts consider it more toxic and do not use it).
The second species, Melilotus altissimus, is more or less a "southerner," growing in the central and southern regions of Europe. Its flowers are yellow, like those of Melilotus officinalis, and its pods are wrinkled, like those of the white sweet clover. The plant thrives in damp meadows and pastures, along the banks of bodies of water, along roadsides, and in populated areas.

* Sweet clover herb is harvested for medicinal purposes.
The following were found in the herb of sweet clover: coumarin, coumaric acid, melilotin, melilotic acid.
The flowers contain essential oil, mucilaginous, resinous substances, choline, tannin and flavonoid glycoside.
The seeds contain protein, starch and essential oil.
The leaves contain coumarins, melilotic acid and melilotol.
Infusion and decoction of sweet clover have anti-inflammatory, antispasmodic, narcotic, hypotensive, emollient, expectorant, analgesic, wound-healing, carminative, anticoagulant, and fibrinolytic effects.
Sweet clover extract depresses the central nervous system and has an anticonvulsant effect, helping to increase the number of leukocytes in patients with leukopenia after radiation therapy.
Sweet clover herb preparations are prescribed for hypertension and ischemic heart disease, atherosclerosis, thrombophlebitis, increased blood clotting, as a direct anticoagulant, and also as an expectorant and anti-inflammatory agent for bronchitis.
Traditional medicine recommends infusions and decoctions of sweet clover for the treatment of bronchitis, asthma, heart pain, ovarian inflammation, scanty and painful menstruation, decreased milk supply in nursing mothers, edema, cystitis, as a sedative for insomnia, migraines, flatulence, and as an astringent and antispasmodic.
Sweet clover is widely used externally as an irritant, distracting and emollient in the form of an infusion for compresses, baths, washes, plasters, poultices, and ointments.
Crushed raw or dry grass steamed in water - for purulent wounds, abscesses, boils, various pustular skin lesions, mastitis, cracked nipples, hidradenitis, inflammation of the eyelids.
NB! Caution is required when taking sweet clover internally, as high doses can cause headaches, nausea, vomiting, and drowsiness . Very high doses can cause liver damage and hemorrhages.

• 2 teaspoons of sweet clover herb in 450 ml of boiled water at room temperature in a closed container, leave for 3-4 hours, strain.
Take 1/4 cup 2-3 times a day for hypertension, headaches, insomnia, irritability, hemorrhoids.

• 1 tablespoon of a mixture of equal parts of sweet clover, centaury, oregano, and coltsfoot flowers per 250 ml of boiling water, leave for 2-3 hours, strain. Take 1/3 cup 5-6 times a day for 3-4 weeks for ovarian inflammation.

* Sauerkraut with sweet clover.
For pickling, select the firmest heads of cabbage. Remove the outer leaves, shred the cabbage, and grate the carrots on a coarse grater. Mix the carrots and cabbage, sprinkle with sweet clover powder, rub with salt, and pack as tightly as possible into a pickling container. Apply pressure and leave to ferment for 5-6 days in a cool place. For better fermentation, you can add a crust of black bread as a starter. After fermentation is complete, store the cabbage in a cellar or refrigerator.
* Cabbage, marinated in Georgian style.
Peel and wash the cabbage, then cut it lengthwise along the stalk into 6-8 wedges, each containing a small piece of stalk. Cut the beets into rounds. Pack the cabbage tightly into a glass jar or any non-aluminum container, interspersing it with beet slices and sprinkling with salt, pepper, and sweet clover. Pour vinegar and oil over the cabbage, then add boiling water until it covers it. Cover the cabbage with a napkin and apply a weight—a clean stone or a small pot of water.
Once the cabbage has fermented, transfer it to a cool place. Serve this cabbage without the beets, drizzled with oil (the beets can be used to make borscht or beetroot soup).
Cabbage - 1 head, medium-sized beetroot - 0.5 pcs., wine vinegar - 1 tbsp., vegetable oil - 4 tbsp., red pepper - 1 tsp., sweet clover (powder) - 1 tbsp., salt - 1 tbsp.
* Fried sweet clover roots.
Wash young sweet clover rhizomes, cut into small pieces and fry with salt in vegetable or butter until soft.
* Potato salad with sweet clover.
Boil the potatoes in their skins, cool, peel, cut into cubes, add salt, mix with finely chopped onion and sweet clover, season with sour cream or butter.
Potatoes - 4-5 pcs., sweet clover - 25 g, green onions - a few feathers, sour cream (or vegetable oil) - 2 tbsp. spoons, salt and spices - to taste.
* Salad with sweet clover.
Cut cucumbers into thin slices, sprinkle with chopped onion and sweet clover, garnish with egg slices and season with sour cream or mayonnaise before serving.
Young sweet clover leaves - 400 g, cucumbers - 120 g, green onions - 100 g, eggs - 2 pcs., sour cream (or mayonnaise) - 80 g, salt - to taste.
* Vegetable soup with sweet clover.
Chop the carrots and celery and fry in oil. Bring the water to a boil, add the rice and fried vegetables, and bring to a boil. When the rice is almost done, add the diced potatoes and sweet clover powder. Season with salt.
Carrots - 1 pc., celery - 1 pc., potatoes - 2 pcs., rice - 0.5 cups, butter - 1 tbsp., sweet clover (powder) - 1 tsp., salt - to taste.
* Cabbage soup with sweet clover.
Wash, peel, dice the potatoes, and boil them in salted water (or broth) until half-cooked. Finely chop the peeled onion and carrot and fry in vegetable oil with a peeled tomato or tomato paste. Add finely chopped sweet clover and sorrel leaves to the boiling broth and cook for another 3 minutes. Season with the fried onion, carrot, and tomato. Cover, remove from heat, and let steep for 15-20 minutes. Serve the shchi with sour cream and a sprinkling of chopped herbs.
Potatoes - 2 pcs., carrots - 1 pc., onions - 1 pc., sweet clover - 30 g, sorrel leaves - 100 g, water (or broth) - 1.5 l, tomato - 1 pc. (or 50 g of tomato paste), parsley and dill - a small bunch, sour cream - 2 tbsp., salt - to taste.
* Okroshka with sweet clover.
Dice boiled potatoes, hard-boiled eggs, meat, and cucumbers. Mix with crushed sweet clover leaves, finely chopped onion, salt, and mustard, salt, and sugar. Pour in kvass and season with sour cream.
Bread kvass - 700 ml, boiled beef (or boiled sausage) - 70 g, jacket potatoes - 2 pcs., eggs - 2 pcs., cucumber - 2 pcs., young shoots and leaves of sweet clover - 20 g, onion - 1 pc., sour cream, sugar, salt and mustard - to taste.
* Belarusian-style cutlets with sweet clover.
Finely chop the sweet clover and onion, mix with the minced meat, add the egg, season with salt and pepper, and mix thoroughly. Form into patties, roll in breadcrumbs, and fry.
Sweet clover - 20 g, minced meat - 250 g, onion - 1 pc., egg - 1 pc., salt and ground black pepper - to taste, breadcrumbs, oil for frying.
* Stewed potatoes with meat and sweet clover.
Fry the pieces of meat, add chopped onions, fry for another 10 minutes, transfer to a roasting pan, add coarsely grated carrots, diced potatoes, finely chopped sweet clover, spices, pour in a little water, cover and simmer until done over low heat.
Meat - 250 g, onions - 2 pcs., carrots - 2 pcs., potatoes - 7 pcs., sweet clover leaves - 20 g, salt, black peppercorns, bay leaf and dill seeds - to taste.
* Pork ham with sweet clover and beer.
Place the pork in a saucepan with cold water and sweet clover, bring to a boil once or twice, remove from heat, and transfer to another saucepan. Add the spices and vegetables, pour in the beer, cover, and simmer until tender. Pour the sauce over the cooked pork, skimming off any excess fat. Serve with boiled potatoes or stewed cabbage. Add the potatoes directly to the sauce along with the meat 10-15 minutes before they're done and continue cooking.
Pork - 1.2-1.5 kg, sweet clover (powder) - 2 handfuls, onion - 1 pc., carrot - 1 pc., parsley root - 1 pc., celery - 1 pc., beer - 3 glasses, bay leaf - 1-2 pcs., allspice - 10 peas, black pepper - 10 peas, salt - to taste.
* Drink made from sweet clover.
Pour hot water over the sweet clover, bring to a boil, add sugar or honey, stir, pour in the cranberry juice, strain, and cool. You can substitute lemon or rhubarb juice for the cranberry juice.
Dry leaves and flowers of sweet clover - 3 teaspoons, honey (or sugar) - 3 tablespoons, cranberry juice - 3 tablespoons, water - 1 tablespoon.
* Vodka in Warsaw style.
Finely chop St. John's wort, sweet clover, oregano, juniper berries, dried raspberries, and apples, mix well, add vanilla, and pour in purified moonshine. Infuse for two weeks in a warm place, then filter.
Double-distilled moonshine - 5 l, St. John's wort (fresh) - 400 g, sweet clover (fresh) - 400 g, oregano (fresh) - 100 g, juniper berries (dried) - 100 g, raspberries (dried) - 100 g, sour apples (dried) - 100 g, vanillin - 10 g.
* "Poshekhonskaya" vodka.
Take equal parts of blackberry (leaves), raspberry (leaves), wild cherry (leaves), clover flowers, sweet clover (greens), hyssop (greens), lemon balm (greens), mint (greens), currant (buds), and rose hips (fruit), chop and mix. Pour 1 tbsp of the mixture into 1 liter of 45% moonshine (or vodka) and add 1 tbsp of sugar or honey. Infuse, shaking occasionally, for a month. Filter.