The route from “farm to table” can’t be any shorter than if it starts in your own back yard. Here are two broccoli recipes that take minutes to prepare, and might convince you to grow some plants this fall. 2 or 3 servings.

 

 

Easy Broccoli One:

 

• Use a medium size pot, with a lid. Add 2 or 3 Tbsp. water.
• Broccoli: Rinse a fresh crown, about 5″ in diameter. Remove tough, thick stem. Cut head into bite-size florets; remaining tender stems should be cut smaller. Some people don’t use the stems, just under the head, but they’re perfectly edible, as are the leaves. Place florets into the pot.
• Mushrooms: Wash and trim stems of a few white button mushrooms, slice, and add to pot.
• Cover, heat up the pot, then lower temperature, to steam the broccoli and mushrooms. Mix once or twice. Don’t overcook; heat enough to turn broccoli to a bright dark green color, which takes only a minute or two. Overcooking this vegetable makes it soft and smelly.
• Finely mince a clove of garlic, and add to a small butter pot (ours is 3″ in diameter, stainless steel) with 1 tsp. butter and 1 or 2 Tbsp. olive oil. Heat this pot over low to medium heat until garlic is a light golden color. (Burned garlic tastes terrible. If you have to start over, that’s better than using the burned garlic.) This step might take a bit longer than cooking the broccoli; I start this one first.
• Drain water from the broccoli pot. Add to the broccoli the contents from the garlic pot and a dash of salt. Mix and serve.

 

This is a great, fast side dish by itself. Or use it over some enriched pasta, with a little more oil and grated Romano cheese. Photo, below—it’s dinner, with a few black olives on the side.

 

 

 

 

Easy Broccoli Two:

 

• In a medium frying pan, add about 2 Tbsp. thinly sliced onion and 1 or 2 Tbsp. olive oil. On medium heat, cook and turn until onion is transparent to a light golden color.
• Then add broccoli, cut into bite-size pieces, prepared as in Easy Broccoli One. Add 2 Tbsp. water and a dash of salt.
• Mix well, and cover to steam over low heat. Stir once or twice, adding water if necessary. It’s done when it turns a bright green color or cook it to the desired tenderness. Drain excess water.
• Serve with grated Romano cheese.

 

 

Wasn’t that easy? Delicious and super-healthy! Sometimes I add a few stems of ‘Happy Rich’ miniature broccoli (photo, below) if they’re ready to pick. This variety has small heads with great flavor. Several inches of the stem and the leaves are also edible. Like other brassicas, it tolerates freezing temperatures, and this one often forms heads until mid summer.

B and C vitamins are water soluble. Use as little water as possible so nutrients aren’t washed down the drain. Or, add the liquid to soup or freeze for later use.

After trying these recipes, you might decide to grow your own broccoli. Start seeds yourself or look for transplants at your local garden center or farmers’ market in mid summer to early fall and again in late winter to early spring. After you pick the main head, smaller side shoots (photo, below) will grow above the remaining leaves for many more weeks. You’d be right if you were thinking that broccoli is “the gift that keeps on giving”. Enjoy!

 

 

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