Allow me to gloat briefly: my son’s favorite vegetable is broccoli. When I serve broccoli, he asks for seconds. When I told him the broccoli in our garden needed to grow a little bigger, he said, “But I really wanted to eat it tonight,” in such a sad voice that I snipped it and steamed it just for him.
how do *you* test broccoli for ripeness?
Now before you resent me too much, let me assure you that there are plenty of green vegetables he won’t touch. Including anything leafy. (I blame myself, for telling him not to eat leaves at the playground when he was a toddler.) But as long as he loves broccoli, we’re eating it once or twice a week. And it’s in season right now at our local farmers markets, along with its cousin cauliflower, squash, Brussels sprouts, beets, apples, pears, those pesky leafy greens, and more root vegetables than you could ever find time to roast.
Did you know that broccoli lowers cholesterol, has high levels of vitamins A & K, and contains folic acid (good for pregnant and nursing mamas)? Ninety percent of the time I just steam broccoli and serve it with butter and sea salt. But if you’re looking to mix things up, or if your little ones aren’t quite as enthusiastic about broccoli, here are some other ideas from around the blogs.
Kid-Friendly Broccoli Recipes
- Roasted Broccoli with Soy Sauce and Sesame Seeds (The foodie tot loves sesame seeds, and they’re a simple addition to mix things up every once in a while.)
- Broccoli Crunch Salad with Apples and Nuts
- Broccoli Pancakes
- Potato, Leek and Broccoli Soup with Pancetta Crumbs
- Pasta with Broccoli, Shrimp and Cashew
1 response so far ↓
1 Mariko // Nov 10, 2010 at 9:55 pm
I’m lucky, because my kid actually like broccoli. She actually likes leafy, too (cooked, and raw). Very weird, since she will touch no other veggie.
Broccoli pancakes sound very interesting. I’ll be heading over there next.
.-= Mariko´s last blog post ..Mommy Lunch- Gougeres =-.