Parmesan Pine Nut Broccolini or Broccoli

Broccolini Italian Style!

Recipe adapted from Cooking Light

Last month I became enamored of broccolini, a hybrid of broccoli and gai-lan. It's more slender and graceful than broccoli, pungent and tender as gai-lan, but sweeter. Starting in April, it’s available from local farms. So after my sesame lime success, I couldn’t resist adapting one more of Cooking Light’s suggestions. Just zest and juice a lemon, shave some Parmesan cheese, then toast the pine nuts while you steam the broccolini. Stir the dressing ingredients together, and toss the hot broccolini with the dressing, pine nuts, and Parmesan. Super-simple, but looks and tastes like gourmet fare.

Sesame Lime Broccolini or Broccoli

Broccolini: Kinda Like Broccoli

Recipe adapted from Cooking Light

Broccolini, also known as broccolette, is a cross between regular broccoli and gai-lan, so-called Chinese broccoli, which we find doused with oyster sauce at authentic dim sum restaurants. Broccolini resembles gai-lan; its long graceful stems are sleek and sexy when plated. It’s tender and pungent like gai-lan, but not as bitter, more sweet like broccoli. I’ve added a good amount of oyster sauce to this recipe. Fresh lime, soy sauce, toasted sesame oil, a sprinkle of sugar, and crushed red pepper round out the easy-to-make sauce. This recipe can also be used with gai-lan or broccoli.

Spring Broccoli Salad with Radishes and Lime

Drain Veggies before Dressing

Recipe adapted from LoveRadish.co.uk

My husband and I will be traveling in England soon, so we hosted a Brit Night to hear stories and look at books and photos provided by our Anglophile friends. Of course, the menu needed to match the theme. My first attempt at Beef Wellington was a given, but being Californian at heart, I wanted to add a salad. “Traditional British salad” sounded like an oxymoron until I discovered LoveRadish.co.uk. This UK-based radish appreciation website contains scores of recipes for unusual salads as well as sandwiches, slaws, and snacks. Radishes are England’s first spring crop, and the harvest continues into mid-autumn. This salad pairs radishes with the early season harvests of purple sprouting broccoli, asparagus, and spring peas. Though we’re just past spring, I pushed the season by substituting frozen peas, with tasty results.

How to Microwave Steam Vegetables

Preparing to Steam Broccoli

Method by Robin

Summertime has just begun, and already it’s time to get out of the kitchen. Heat waves are sweeping the US and kids are out of school. We’re motivated to simplify meals and contemplate a vacation break. Conserving personal and planetary energy while preparing our veggies is a natural.

Easy salads of mixed greens are good choices; add a few strawberries if you like. Cole slaws and other cabbage slaws are also good bets. Raw veggies with dip are another cool idea. And for simple cooked veggie preparation, try microwave steaming as a cooler and energy-saving alternative to conventional steaming or boiling.

Spaghetti and Broccoli

Healthful Pasta

Recipe from “The Cooking Decade”

“Weird!” said my husband both times I’ve mentioned making this recipe. I could tell from the tone of his voice that he didn’t mean “different and interesting,” he meant “sounds terrible,” mainly because he’s not fond of yogurt. But I’ve been intrigued by this no-red-sauce spaghetti for awhile. My husband isn’t home today, but a huge bunch of CSA broccoli is, so the time was right to try it.

Broccoli Oshitashi: Broccoli Salad with Sesame

Broccoli Oshitashi

Recipe by Bruce and Robin

Oshitashi! The idea came to me after scouring cookbooks for new and different broccoli recipes. The fussy broccoli-lemon-tomato casserole with great taste but odd texture, the compelling broccoli with spaghetti in yogurt and parmesan sauce that my husband vetoed, the too-dairy-rich cream of broccoli soup; these were contenders. But a simple and fresh Japanese-inspired salad won the contest.

Low-fat Appetizers

Christmas-Colored Veggies for Dipping

Menu by Robin, Recipes by Weight Watchers and Cooking by Moonlight

“Simple, low-fat appetizers,” Bruce’s cousin Elizabeth responded when I asked if there was anything particular we could bring for Christmas. “If not possible, just let me know,” she continued, but I love a culinary challenge that requires creative thinking. I also love the idea of beginning a lavish meal with light fare, casually served in the living room as holiday revelers arrive. This menu can also be employed on the week after Christmas when kids are on vacation, as a healthy alternative to the sweets we’ve either made or received as gifts. Next year I’m going to also try this idea for holiday parties and potlucks.

Bruce's Veggie Stir-fry II

Bruce's Latest Veggie Stir-fry

Recipe by Bruce

“Shall I stir-fry?” says my husband’s note to me while I’m on the phone with my East Coast sister around our West Coast dinnertime. I nod enthusiastically and give the thumbs-up sign. Who could turn down such an offer from the humble king of stir-frying? In addition to the purple carrots, broccoli, mei qing choi and green garlic from our CSA farm share, he used some frozen packaged shitake mushrooms approaching their expiration date.

Bruce's Veggie Stir-fry

Bruce's Latest Stir-fry

Recipe by Bruce

My husband Bruce is the king of stir-frying, though he's quite modest if you ask him about it. Using a frighteningly high heat and an intimidatingly large wok, he cooks vegetables to perfection for any occasion. This most recent stir-fry was designed, as usual, to use up large quantities of veggies received from our CSA farm share. Because we were having Crispy Tilapia with Lemon-Onion Relish, he chose to use more cider vinegar than usual, to stand up to the strong taste of the relish. Stir-frying must be done quickly, so vegetables remain crisp rather than turning soggy. To execute this properly, one must be completely prepared before cooking.