Ah, broccoli is having a resurgence in popularity. Every where I turned this week I ran into another story, another recipe. It’s probably food writers yearning to be set free into the garden – we crave greens and sunshine again. This morning Mr. Sanders commented that even the New York Times was going to town with a slew of broccoli recipes – which is all well and good for him. He delights in broccoli, broccolini and broccoli rabe. Give me a simple, raw head of iceberg lettuce and I am a happy camper. New York Times
The most basic methods for cooking broccoli are to blanching, steaming in the microwave, steaming on the stovetop, sautéing, and roasting broccoli. Fun facts to know and tell: broccoli has as much calcium, by weight, as milk. It is also loaded with fiber. Broccoli transforms to brighter, spring-y-er green, after steaming. You can steam broccoli in a mere five minutes —which leaves you plenty of time to go back to streaming The Pitt. Fact #2: the longer you steam broccoli, the more nutrients you lose. Which means we shouldn’t follow our mothers’ rules for boiling broccoli into submission.
Listen to Martha and her experts: Martha and Broccoli
You can grill it, too. Which will take it outdoors. In our house, cooking outdoors means that Mr. Sanders takes over the cooking responsibilities. Grilled and roasted broccoli are his new passions.
The smarties at Bon Appétit have a recipe that he just loves for steak and roasted broccoli: Bon Appétit I have found him reading recipes online, which he enthusiastically abandons in favor of his gut instincts about these matters. Mostly he pulls off his experiments, for which I applaud him. (I do my fair share, washing up behind him. He generates a lot of dirty pots and pans in his creative cooking frenzies.)
Mr. Sanders’s Spicy Hot Grilled Broccoli
INGREDIENTS
(Mr. Sanders eyeballs all of these measurements, and you should, too.)
3 – 4 crowns fresh broccoli
2 – 3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 – 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tablespoon Tabasco sauce
1/2 tablespoon Maldon salt flakes
1/2 tablespoon black pepper
1/2 tablespoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Clean the broccoli and remove from the stalks. Put broccoli in large bowl and add olive oil. Stir lightly to coat the broccoli with oil. Add Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco, salt, black pepper, red pepper flakes, and garlic powder. Stir again.
Set the grill temp to high. Use a sheet of aluminum foil or we have a perforated pan for grilling vegetables. Lay the foil (or pan) on the grill, and spread the broccoli. Close the grill lid, and cook at high heat for 8-10 minutes. Voilà! C’est bon!
When they were little it was hard to persuade our children to eat broccoli. They had a sixth sense about avoiding steamed broccoli, but sometimes we could persuade them to try it with a tasty side of ranch dressing. They are too sophisticated now to fall for bottled salad dressing, but I bet they would try these dips:
Basic Vinaigrette
3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
Maldon salt
Pepper
Combine the vinegar, garlic, mustard, salt and pepper in an old mayo jar. Cover and shake to dissolve the salt. Add the olive oil and shake to blend. Taste for seasoning. Keep in the fridge for other salad and vegetable needs.
Greek Tzatziki
Mix Greek yogurt with olive oil, chopped cucumber, minced garlic, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Wowser.
Even Martha weighs in with a simple honey mustard dip for raw vegetables: Honey Mustard Dip
And these recipes are not just for the younger set, they are also good for cocktail hours, when you are having a drink with friends and want to lessen your existential angst and ward off cancer. The virtue of broccoli!
“Listen to your broccoli and it will tell you how to eat it.”
—Anne Lamott
I stand with the little girl in this 1928 New Yorker cartoon. She was correct in her assessment of broccoli, and spinach for that matter – no, thank you. Cartoon
Jean Dixon Sanders has been a painter and graphic designer for the past thirty years. A graduate of Washington College, where she majored in fine art, Jean started her work in design with the Literary House lecture program. The illustrations she contributes to the Spies are done with watercolor, colored pencil and ink.
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