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.