Eight Ways To Turn Broccoli Into the Star of Your Dinner Plate
Spring is a hopeful season! It brings transformation and change; from darkness to light, from cold to warmth, from gray to bursts of color. It is a time for cleaning houses, new growth in gardens, and baby animals. The new life, new beginnings, and bright, colorful new look that spring brings are hopeful signs that life on this earth renews again and again. We don’t remain in any one season or cycle in life indefinitely. Seasons change.
We, too, have cycles and rhythms to our lives and to our growth process. These days growth is showing up in the form of:
New Website & Trailer
For the last two years, I have run my On The Grow business from the trunk of my car. Workshop after workshop, class after class, and event after event, I have lugged garden tools, plants and cooking class materials in and out of my car. A couple months ago, I finally made the investment in a trailer which will serve as my food-systems lab on wheels. I can’t wait to debut the branded version and give everyone a tour next month. In the meantime, check out my new website about On The Grow.
New Class
Since “new” is the theme this season, I am teaching a new course with MESA that is taking aspiring farmers to Kenya this summer. Affectionately known as the Global Agroecology Pathways Program (GAPP), it is an online 10-week agroecology certificate course and one-month global fellowship to live and train with MESA’s global NGO partner, Grow Biointensive Agriculture Center of Kenya (G-BiACK), based in Thika, Kenya, in July 2024.
New Campaign
And finally I have partnered with The WellRock gym to kick off a new eight-week challenge called The Breakfast Club in April. Every Friday, I will be sending out free breakfast recipes encouraging and challenging people to 50 grams of protein before 10am. The program is free, and everyone is invited to participate. Why breakfast? Breakfast is often called 'the most important meal of the day', and for good reason. It is the one meal of the day you have complete control over. And it improves your energy levels and ability to concentrate in the short term, and can help with better weight management, reduced risk of type 2 diabetes and heart disease in the long term.
What’s new for you this season?
Food For Thought
Words, songs, inspiration and lessons I saved, read, wrote down, and savored this month
READ - How to prep your raised garden beds for spring seedlings
LISTEN - Rising grocery prices: Potent presidential campaign issue
Words, Lessons & Inspiration
Opportunities
Broccoli is always a trusty side dish, but playing the same old steamed or roasted cards can get old, fast. Luckily, there’s a whole bounty of creative broccoli recipes to choose from. You can sear the hearty stalks until charred and finish them in the oven until tender, or pair them with tons of fresh lemon juice and garlic for a bright and crunchy Caesar treatment. You can melt your broccoli into a quick and easy pasta dish, or blend it into a warming, flavorful soup. And don’t throw away those stems either; save them for stock or thinly slice them and use them in slaws, salads, or stir-fry. Below you’ll find an array of creative recipes that go beyond steamed broccoli.
COOK
PRESERVE
Freezing Broccoli
Blanching - Blanching destroys enzymes that continue the ripening process and helps to set the color, texture of the vegetable, and retain nutrients. Rule of thumb is about 1 pound of vegetable to 1 gallon of water. The water should return to a full boil in about 1 minute after the vegetables are immersed.Start timing when water returns to a full boil and when done immediately immerse in ice water to stop the heating process.
Packaging - Package in freezer containers or bags, removing air. No headspace is needed. Label and date. Tray pack by patting the florets dry with a paper towel, place on a tray in a single layer, place the tray in the freezer for approximately 1 to 2 hours until frozen. Quickly remove the individually frozen florets and place in a freezer container or bag removing air. No headspace is needed. Label and date.
Canning
As a low acid food these vegetables would need to be pressure canned and there are no scientifically tested recipes for canning broccoli or cauliflower as a plain vegetable. Additionally, at the higher temperatures achieved during pressure canning the product would soften to the point that it would not be palatable. Broccoli tends to develop strong flavors and usually discolor as well as being unsafe. They should not be used in canned vegetable mixtures.
Drying
If you decide to try drying these vegetables, prepare as for serving, then steam blanch broccoli for 3-3½ minutes or water blanch for 2 minutes and for cauliflower steam blanch for 4-5 minutes and water blanch 3-4 minutes. Drying time in a dehydrator is estimated around 12-15 hours.
STORE
You can store the broccoli in the refrigerator for up to a week. To maximize freshness, wrap the stalks in a damp paper towel before placing them in a plastic bag or airtight container. This helps to maintain the right level of moisture and prevent wilting. Alternatively, you can also store the stalks in a container filled with water, similar to how you would store fresh flowers. Just make sure to change the water every couple of days to keep it fresh.