Cease Throwing Away the Greatest A part of Your Broccoli—Eat It These 3 Methods As an alternative

Simply think about, for a minute, what it should really feel wish to be a broccoli stem. You spend your complete existence struggling to crown your self in flowers, solely to have the crown turn into the only real object of appreciation, taking all of the glory for itself. Your stunning florets are stolen from you, destined to turn into a part of some exalted culinary creation, and also you, unhappy stalk, are tossed within the trash. It hurts. Actual unhealthy. Deep, deep down.

But it surely would not need to be that means, nor ought to it. Broccoli stems deserve some consideration of their very own, which implies that for those who’re a type of folks within the behavior of throwing them away, you would possibly wish to rethink that.

There’s so much you are able to do with broccoli stalks. It helps to think about them like kohlrabi, which is nothing if not a big, bulbous stem of broccoli. Kohlrabi is sweet each uncooked and cooked, with a light taste and a crisp, juicy middle—and the identical goes for broccoli stems.

You may wish to begin by figuring out simply how powerful their exteriors are, peeling them off in the event that they’ve grown too wood with time. After that, you’ll be able to resolve what to do with them. If in case you have sufficient, you’ll be able to lower them into batons or slices and sauté them in a scorching pan with smoking oil, driving sufficient warmth into their surfaces to get some browned spots.

You could possibly additionally pickle them in a brine, just like the one I take advantage of on this quick-pickled asparagus recipe. It’s going to work simply as nicely with broccoli stems. (And, after all, you’ll be able to play with the flavorings, utilizing completely different herbs or omitting them, et cetera.)

In all honesty, although, I hardly ever make such a fuss. More often than not, I want to eat the broccoli stems uncooked, both tossed right into a salad or organized on a plate and drizzled with some olive oil and a sprinkling of flaky sea salt. They do not want a lot else. It makes for a enjoyable little predinner snack for the cook dinner—only a deal with, nothing that can damage your urge for food.

And, for those who occur to be making a platter of crudités, I implore you to incorporate broccoli stems among the many vegetable choice. Frankly, they’re far superior to these terrible uncooked florets, which get an excessive amount of of the glory as it’s—let’s not heap on much more that they do not deserve.

April 2017