Broccoli

GhostUser · Jan 3, 2003

I am a brocolli lover, not even sure if I spelled it right, though. <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="/images/smilies/smiley.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="

">Anyway, I was wondering how you cook yours for those of you who like it. <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="/images/smilies/love.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="

"> 
Does anyone know how long you can keep it fresh? I have some that has turned yellowish on top yet it is not soft. I'm not sure if it's still good. I usually cut it open to see if it's okay inside the stem and it still is okay there. I don't usually have it long enough for it to turn yellow but this time I did. 
I like to steam it and eat the tops and a good portion of the stems but not all of it. I steam it about 5 or 10 minutes and it's so good with whole steamed mushrooms, too. I have also found it is real good in veggie soup and of course brocolli soup is really good. I eat it raw by itself or in salads. I have also eaten it by itself cooked as a whole meal-there was quite a bit there. I like it but I can tire of it if I eat it continuously like anything.

Michael · Jan 3, 2003

Not a huge fan of broccoli (correct spelling, I looked it up) but I do eat it steamed sometimes - either in a steamed veggie plate or Chinese. I don't cook it myself so I can't help you out. I like the stems far more than the tops. Blech.

Max Power · Jan 3, 2003

I lurrrrrve brokkili (bad spelling - I made it up <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="/images/smilies/wink3.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="

"> ) but I can't afford to eat at the Chinese where I usually get it. They steam it and I dip it in brown garlic sauce. Also, sometimes I steam it in small bits and eat it with mac and cheese.

WonderRandy · Jan 3, 2003

LOVE broccoli!!!!!! 
I especially like it raw. just the tops tho. If I cook it, I'll use lots of stem too. 
cook it up into anything you're making! If your'e making soup, add it. if you're making stir fry, add it! there's no bad way to make broccoli. 
gods I love the stuff!

LadyFaile · Jan 3, 2003

i don't mind it. i prefer it just steamed by itself, but i sometimes use it in stir fry. though i sometimes forget to add it last and if it's fried too long it doesn't taste right and i end up picking it out. 
i don't buy it often but when i do it's just for me, so i just get crowns. my grocery store sells crowns by the pound, it's really convenient, takes less work, and less to go bad if i don't use it up. but it's like twice the price per pound compared to whole. since i only buy a couple of crowns at a time it's worth it cause it's less than a pound anyway 
anyway when the tops start to go yellow i just cut off the yellow parts and chuck it out but the rest is still ok.

WonderRandy · Jan 3, 2003

I still eat the yellow parts... 
put em in soup. no one will notice.

GhostUser · Jan 3, 2003

After reading all these posts my mouth is watering for broccoli. All I have left to eat for veggies now is a cabbage, a squash and potatoes. Got to get out and get that brocolli. That brown garlic sauce dip sounds goood. Everything else sounded yummy, too. What about some cream of brocolli soup? 
I did eat some of the yellow tops one day mixed into some soup but the ones I looked at awhile ago got shriveled and soft so I threw them out. They looked like they may have spoiled. Tomorrow or next week I'll head for the veggie spot I go to. I get all excited to go shopping for veggies! It's sort of funny.

Thalia · Jan 3, 2003

I love it, too. And just a few months ago I started making cream of broccoli soup. Yummy. I usually buy mine frozen, so I don't know much about how long to keep it.

GhostUser · Jan 3, 2003

I like to steam it juuuust a little so that it's warm all the way through, and then toss it in a mixture of tamari, sesame oil, garlic, and crushed red pepper. 
But, I also like to steam it until it's nearly mushy and then top it with margerine...mmmmmm....so simple, but way tasty.

soilman · Jan 3, 2003

Because the tiny flowers (that's what they are, tiny flower-buds and flowers) at the tips attract zillions of tiny insects, brocolli may be one of the most heavily insecticide-treated crops there is. 
I examine the flowers for decompostion damage very closely. You might even want to use a magnifying glass. And smell them. The flowers may start to decompose long before the stalks, and you may not be able to easily see the decomposition with the naked eye. Smell them. The flowers will also be killed and start decomposing soon, even on otherwise fresh brocolli, if they are packed in ice, and the ice gets on the crowns. 
Commercial non-organic brocolli is usually insect free, even tho this is one of the hardest crops to keep insect free. Too many places for insects to hide out. The old fashioned way of removing the insects before eating brocolli was to fill a pot with heavily salted water, and soak the brocolli in it for about 10 minutes. All the visible, and (mostly) invisible insects would lose their grip on the flowers, and float to the surface. then you could scoop them off and discard them. 
Brocolli is a mutation of collards that hasn't been shown to be survivable in nature. So are headed cabbage, brussel sprouts, and cauliflower -- all the same species, the same plant.

Baby · Jan 3, 2003

Good to know, Soilman! 
I love broccoli, steamed then lightly salted, with a little olive oil. 
Beside in soups, stirfrys and salads, I like to put it in a tomato sauce. I saute it with fake sausage (Gimme Lean), mushrooms, olive oil, garlic, salt , cracked pepper and red pepper flakes. Then I add the prepared tomato sauce let it heat up and pour it over patsa. Instead of the tomato sauce you could also use mushroom soup from Imagine. It makes a nice "cream" sauce. Yummy!

GhostUser · Jan 3, 2003

I steam it and dip it in lemon-tahini sauce. Yummmmm!!! 
Peace, 
Maggie

GhostUser · Jan 3, 2003

EEWWW...I know insects are on veggies but yuk. I'm going to soak mine before I eat it like Soilman mentions.

soilman · Jan 3, 2003

No need to soak your brocolli MsRuthieB. Most brocolli is so thoroughly treated with insecticides, that it wont have insects. Even organically -grown brocolli may be given a good dose of an organic insecticide (like nicotine, actually more dangerous than the "inorganic" insecticides in use) because marketers have discovered that a large proportion of US consumers have a pathological fear of harmless insects.

GhostUser · Jan 3, 2003

Thanks for all the new ways to have broccoli, everyone. I needed new ways. After reading about the insects I felt sort of sick but knowing there aren't many now helps. I also didn't know they use nicotine as an organic pesticide. I quite smoking long ago and that doesn't seem right that they would use that! I sometimes get the organic and mostly get the inorganic. 
I wonder what is the best way to remove any pesticides? I usually just rinse but don't know if that is effective enough.

GhostUser · Jan 3, 2003

<div class="quote-container">Quote:
<div class="quote-block">Originally posted by Birdlady I wonder what is the best way to remove any pesticides? I usually just rinse but don't know if that is effective enough.</div>
</div>
 
I was actually wondering the same thing and decided earlier to start a new thread on the topic. I believe I called it "How do you remove the 'stuff' from produce" in Foods.

Joe · Jan 4, 2003

The most commonly cited source for information on pesticide levels in produce, as far as I know, is the Environmental Working Group. <a href="http://www.foodnews.org/" target="_blank">http://www.foodnews.org/</a> 
Broccoli is not listed among the high pesticide foods <a href="http://www.foodnews.org/highpesticidefoods.php" target="_blank">http://www.foodnews.org/highpesticidefoods.php</a> 
and in fact is listed among the lowest pesticide vegetables <a href="http://www.foodnews.org/lowpesticidefoods.php" target="_blank">http://www.foodnews.org/lowpesticidefoods.php</a> 
Please consult this website for more in depth information about pesticide levels in various fruits and vegetables.

soilman · Jan 4, 2003

That's interesting that brocolli is not listed as low pesticide. I based my high-pesticide guess on 3 things: (1) whenever I grew collards, turnips, or similar cruciferoous vegetables, they were immediately attacked by insects and the insect problem continually required lots of attention and frequent resprays (as compared to other plants i grew, which tended to be attacked more sporadically). (2) The directions on every insecticide I could find, said spray cruciferous vegetables no less than 14 to 30 days before the day of harvest -- yet insects returned in force 2 days after the last spraying. The usual reason for large pre-harvest number of days is that the crop absorbs the insecticide, so it won't be removed by washing, and the only way to get it out is to wait for the plants to metabolize it and excrete it. I kept looking for pesticides that were effective and would me to spray 
less days before harvest, but could not find any. (this is the reason I now grow only underground cruciferous crops, like turnips -- in 14 days their leaves will be attacked, enogh to make them rather hole-y, but not enough to harm the root. 
Old-timers who I have spoken to, who recall buying fresh brocolli before the 1950, when insectides were not nearly as widespread as they were after the 50's, frequently described it as being difficult or impossible to find brocolli that had few hidden insects, and that large un-hidden infestions of the crown portion were normal. If you could find brocolli without lots of obvious insects, when you dunked them in salt water, insects that you couldn't see, would turn up, in huge numbers. They said it was routine to dunk brocolli in salt water before cooking it. My own experiments with dunking modern brocolli in salt water show that not only does it not have un-hidden insects, but it also does not have hidden insects, and in fact, I don't think i've ever seen a single insect, not even a hidden one! This points to excessive use of insectides, because I know that with the recommended doses, I was not able to kill all the insects on my cruciferous vegetables; I was only able to kill maybe about 85 percent of them.

soilman · Jan 4, 2003

That low pesticide list doesn't make sense to me. I never ever need pesticides for lettuce, and from what i've read, most other gardeners don't, either. Yet lettuce isn't on their list. My collards (simply unheading cabbage) always required constant attention -- yet cabbage is on their list. Tomatoes aren't on the list, yet it is common knowledge that they are easy to grow without pesticides.

soilman · Jan 4, 2003

By the way, the group Joe refers to, which obviously has an axe to grind and probably puts their own spin on "factual" information, appears to be including fungicides when they say pesticides. Many modern fungicides (I'm using "spin" here when I say "many") are very low in toxicity (because I have no idea what the relative use is of modern low-toxicity fungicides, to old-fashioned mercury or copper-containing fungicides, just that the modern ones have replaced the older ones "somewhat" because they are just as effective and have less drawbacks -- but they may be more expensive). 
Still, I'm finding the info on the foodnews site to be difficult to believe.

Broccoli

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