Ridiculously simple broccoli (or broccoli stalk) soup

Not sure what to do with your broccoli stems? Try this recipe - it's incredibly easy, and delicious!

• Broccoli (florets and/or stems)
• Salt & pepper
• Olive oil
• Garlic (optional)
• Carrots (optional)
• Goat cheese (optional)
• Toasted almonds or walnuts (optional)

Sautee chopped garlic and olive oil in a soup pot. Add water to pot, bring to boil, season w/salt and pepper. Add broccoli stalks and carrots. Cook until tender. Blend. Season again. Enjoy!

Gordon Ramsey's version uses florets, goat cheese and walnuts: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mvc8Au4YO60

Broccoli

Broccoli is an extremely versatile vegetable, and is a good addition to almost any recipe. Below are some of my personal favorite recipes - the broccoli soup is an especially excellent dish for the coming cold winter months!





Broccoli Soup
Adapted from the Food Network test kitchens

2 tablespoons butter or olive oil
1 medium-sized onion, sliced
1 clove garlic, smashed
1 russet potato, peeled and diced
a pinch or so dried thyme
salt and pepper, to taste
4 cups vegetable stock
about 1 lb. fresh broccoli, roughly chopped
2-4 tablespoons cream, optional

Directions: Melt/heat the butter/oil in a deep pan and add the onion and garlic, cooking about 5 minutes until translucent. Then add the potato, thyme, salt and pepper, and vegetable stock and bring to a boil. Decrease to a simmer and cook until the potato is tender when poked with a fork, about 10 minutes. Add the broccoli and simmer until broccoli is also tender. Puree the soup with an immersion blender, or in batches in a blender. Return soup to to the pot and add the cream. Return to a simmer, adding more salt and pepper if necessary. Serve with optional toppings like shaved parmesan cheese or toast points.

Oven-Roasted Broccoli

1 lb. broccoli, trimmed
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon or so sea salt
pepper, to taste
1/3 cup bread crumbs, preferably panko if you have them on hand
1/4 grated cheese, preferably parmesan or cheddar

Directions: Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Cut the broccoli into bite-sized pieces, and mix well in a bowl with the olive oil, garlic, sea salt, and pepper. Spread the bread crumbs on a large baking sheet, and lightly toast in the oven until brown, about 2 minutes. Remove the crumbs from the oven and add to the broccoli mixture, tossing again. Put the entire mixture baking on the baking sheet and roast for about 10 minutes, until broccoli is slightly tender. Remove from the oven, toss in the cheese, and serve immediately.

Leslie's Broccoli, Wild Rice, and Mushroom Stuffing (just in time for Thanksgiving!

courtesy of Leslie Eikhoff-Davis, allrecipes.com

1/2 cup uncooked wild rice
1 1/2 cups water
2 cups chopped fresh broccoli
1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 cups sliced mushrooms
1 cup chopped onion
1 16-oz. package herb seasoned stuffing mix
1 14-oz. can vegetable stock
1/2 cup sliced almonds (optional)

Directions: Bring rice and 1 1/2 cups water to boil in a pot. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer 45 minutes. Place broccoli in a pot with enough water to cover, and boil 5 minutes, or until slightly tender. Remove from heat, and drain. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a baking dish. Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat, and saute the mushrooms and onion until tender. Mix in cooked rice, cooked broccoli, stuffing mix, stock, and almonds (if using). Transfer to the prepared baking dish. Bake 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden brown.

Zucchini, squash & broccoli with tomato crab meat sauce over whole wheat penne pasta

Here's something I made last night after getting home at 9pm (not from work, don't worry, but from tennis). It was late, we were hungry and I wanted something light and quick. So here it is. It'll probably take me longer to post this than it took me to make this dish, but then, I'm a slow typist and I do have a way with the chef knife.

While the salted water for pasta gets to a boil, heat up some vegetable oil in a pan over medium heat. Add chopped onion, garlic and hot red pepper flakes , cook until the garlic starts to become fragrant or to color a bit then add the chopped veggies. If you're not ready with the veggies, add some white wine, to cool down the cooking process a bit. The veggies do not need much cooking (as they are perfectly good raw), so 5 minutes after adding the veggies, add the chopped tomato and the crab meat (you don't need a lot, though the more the better) and turn off the heat. Sprinkle herbs on top of the veggies and in the cooked pasta and serve hot.


The best thing about this dish is that it can be done really quickly and is really versatile. In the winter I make a white wine cream sauce , and I usually add whatever veggies I have in the fridge. Crab meat is pricey and hard to come by, but one can easily use shrimp or fish or mushrooms. The leftovers are great too (even cold, as I had today for lunch). I omitted any quantities from this recipe because I really like the freedom to add as much of something as I like or have, and as I need. Enjoy!

choppin' broccoli

a little shout out to dana carvey's catchy song......and that tastiest of vegetables.....broccoli! it's a great veggie and very good for you. a member of the Brassicaceae family, broccoli is high in vitamin C, soluble fiber and has potent anti-cancer properties. but don't boil for more than 10 minutes or broccoli will lose many of it's health benefits (steaming and stir frying don't seem to have that problem). there are many things to do with broccoli but i think the simpler the better.

tonight we made a tasty side dish of broccoli and orzo....
cook 1/2 cup orzo in 4 cups of water until tender (about 15 mins). drain, reserving 3/4 cup of water. saute 5 cloves of garlic (sliced) and 1/2 onion (diced) in 2 Tbsp olive oil until slightly translucent. add broccoli florets (about 4 cups) tossing in olive oil, garlic and onion. add reserved water, cover and steam for 5 mins. uncover and cook further to reduce liquid until almost evaporated (about 2 mins). combine with orzo. season with salt and pepper to taste and juice of half a lemon. enjoy!

don't waste the broccoli stalks or leaves....peel the tough outer skin with a vegetable peeler and use for soups, stir fry and stocks!

we also received green and red leaf lettuce, swiss and rainbow chard, onions, kale and red cabbage today so post your recipe ideas!