Friday, February 5, 2021

Best-Ever Broccoli

                            A just-plucked-from-the-garden gift was the inspiration 

Supermarkets and farmers markets are now full of fresh emerald green broccoli.  It was, however, a dear friend who loves to garden (thank you, Conni) who brought me a gorgeous wicker basket full of her broccoli that inspired me  to look for a new recipe.  While I love this vegetable, I’ve never found a healthy broccoli recipe that is irresistible….until now.   Broccoli is very nutritious (extremely high in Vitamin C and K), so I hate to cover it up with layers of cheese, or oodles of sour cream and butter.  Not only have I found a healthful rendition, but this recipe is so luscious that you’ll swear it must be unhealthy.

First, a few facts about broccoli that may surprise you.  Broccoli is Italian in origin ---it’s name actually means “flowering top of a cabbage,” which makes sense as it belongs to the same family as cabbage.    Next, broccoli raab (also called rappini), is not actually part of this family but instead is part of the turnip family.  Last,  broccoli is a cousin of cauliflower.

I scoured magazines and the Internet for low carbohydrate and low fat recipes using broccoli.  This recipe received rave reviews and 100% of cooks would make it again (always a positive sign for me).  Yes, the sample size was small but I gave it a whirl as I had all of ingredients in my home.  The result was magic:  deep and complex flavors.  Moreover, the recipe was fairly easy and used only 5 ingredients other than broccoli and salt. 

Best-ever broccoli

The recipe is out of last February’s Bon Appetit, however, if you don't have the magazine it is now posted on Epicurious.com.  Although I always have Parmigiano-Reggiano in my frig, I didn’t even use it as I wanted to taste a virginal rendition.  (Didn’t miss it, although I’m sure it would have even been more unctuous with a few gratings.)

https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/big-flavor-broccoli



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