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

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

Nevertheless it does not must be that approach, nor ought to it. Broccoli stems deserve some consideration of their very own, which implies that in case you’re a kind of folks within the behavior of throwing them away, you may need to rethink that.

There’s lots 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 nice each uncooked and cooked, with a gentle taste and a crisp, juicy heart—and the identical goes for broccoli stems.

You will need 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 sizzling 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 will work simply as effectively 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 not often make such a fuss. More often than not, I favor 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 may spoil your urge for food.

And, in case you 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