Broccoli/Broccolini

The key to making a great broccoli omelet is to slightly overcook the broccoli. One of the best cheeses to pair with broccoli in many a dish is Cheddar because of its sharp, tangy taste.

Two of these cheese-and-potato cakes are ample for a main course with maybe a spinach or chicory salad to follow.

Any of the brassica family is good to go here. Most successful are gai lan (kai lan) and choy sum.

Broccoli doesn’t stir-fry well from raw. The beaded crown—the tight flower buds—tends to burn before the stem even approaches tenderness. Heads that have been briefly blanched in boiling water will, however, stir-fry deliciously, soaking up the ginger and soy or whatever other seasoning you might throw at them. In the last year or two I have taken to adding them to stir-fries of ground lamb or pork, letting the meat thoroughly caramelize in the thin pan before adding the greens. It’s a very quick, bright-tasting supper, invigorating and toothsome. But you do need to be brave with the meat, letting it glisten and almost crisp before you add the rest of the ingredients.

Pasta sends me to sleep. Actually, it always has. It’s just that for years I failed to make the connection between my postprandial tiredness and what had been on my plate. I now take my dough of flour, eggs, and water in much smaller quantities, using it as the supporting actor rather than the lead. The result is a fresher, less heavy plate, yet somehow just as comforting. In many cases the pasta is padded out with vegetables: spinach, mushrooms, tomatoes, eggplants, peas, cavolo nero, or broccoli. Members of the broccoli family work rather well with pasta, the folds and hollows of the cooked dough neatly holding onto crumbs of green vegetable. In what follows, we get a lot of pleasure for very little work: a plateful of soothing carbs with a creamy, cheesy sauce and masses of lightly cooked green vegetables. In short, a cheap, quick weekday supper.

A good use for the older, tougher specimens. I have made this with those plastic-entombed bunches from the late-night corner market and you would never have known it.

Salmon roe, a sushi bar standard here in America, is a very popular ingredient in Japan. I love how these orange-colored pearls explode with a burst of flavor when you bite into them. They add a wonderful zing to this classic fettuccine recipe. Try this dish in the spring when broccoli is at its peak.

Most Junior League cookbooks have at least Broccoli Salads I and II, and often III and IV. It’s the diplomatic way of not having to decide whose version is best. The amusing part is they are all, in essence, the same salad and contain, besides broccoli (and mayonnaise, of course), red onion, bacon, and often raisins. Really racy ones with a modern twist might also contain crushed ramen noodles. This salad is colorful and satisfying in a very simple way. To really make the flavors and colors pop, it is imperative to blanch and shock the broccoli. Otherwise, it is like grazing in the produce bin.

I know you are probably thinking, “Me make fish . . . how about No.” I promise you this dish is perfect date food, not only tasty but easy and impressive. Come on, three ingredients including the side dish. It doesn’t get any easier than that. All the seasoning comes from the cheese, so it’s foolproof and only takes about 5 minutes to get ready. Better yet, it cooks in foil so there are no pans to wash.

This is a basic low-fat stir-fry recipe that can be adjusted almost any way you want. I often add pea pods, bean sprouts, celery, or whatever vegetables I happen to have on hand. One word of warning though; if you are making this for fewer than 4 people, cut the recipe down accordingly, as it doesn’t reheat well. (And that’s being kind.)

En papillote (PAH-peh-loht) is French for “in paper,” which is how this dish is made. This method of cooking steams the food and allows you to cook without fat, but we did add a little butter, thyme, and lemon for flavor. This is a really simple, foolproof way to cook fish and, best of all, it makes for easy cleanup.

When I make this dish I buy the Asian-style baked tofu so I don’t have to marinate it. It is difficult to find in regular grocery stores, but you can find it at most health food or specialty stores. If you can find it, you can skip the marinating and just stir in the teriyaki sauce at the end. For you meat eaters, a chicken breast can be used instead of the tofu.

I was intimidated by the prospect of making a broccoli cheese soup, but I like it so much, I had to try. The recipe we came up with turned out to be one of the fastest, easiest soup recipes I’ve ever tried. Just to clarify, a bunch of broccoli is what you buy rubber-banded together in the store: a stalk is one of the pieces within the rubber band, and florets are the flowery tops.

There’s something about a chicken and broccoli stir-fry that screams “Chinese take-out! “ But given that this is a healthier and tastier recipe than your standard MSG-fest, let’s call it “Chinese take-in.” The slightly higher fat content in dark meat makes for a flavorful, moist dish, so people with throat or mouth issues may find it a lot easier to chew and swallow. (That said, you can substitute an equivalent amount of breast meat if you like.) The sauce is thickened with kudzu root, a phenomenal anticancer plant, which is a lot more desirable than the cornstarch of questionable quality found in most carry-out fare. Plus, the blend of tamari, lime juice, ginger, and maple syrup in the sauce is so delicious that you’ll be able to take that Chinese restaurant off the speed dial.

Sometimes creating recipes is like dating. You have to know when to hold ‘em and when to fold ‘em. I recently broke up with a chopped broccoli dish because we had no chemistry. It just wasn’t happening. I might have been depressed if not for another broccoli suitor that swept me off my feet. This guy—well, as mom likes to say, he cleans up nice. Maybe it’s the company he keeps as well; surrounding himself with fresh basil, red bell peppers, a little lemon … they’re a sprightly crowd, fun to hang with, and healthy, too, full of anti-inflammatories and other anticancer properties.

A lot of people have only had a close-up encounter with broccoli as raw crudités or boiled until it’s gray and limp, which is unappetizing and often difficult to digest. Here, sautéing the broccoli in olive oil, infusing it with broth, and then blending releases all of its sweetness and cancer-fighting properties and helps everything go down nice and easy.

This cheerfully colored soup can be the centerpiece of a summer meal, served with crusty bread or sandwiches and a bountiful salad.

As in many Asian-style soups, this ingredient list may look long, but it’s a snap to prepare. Adding any of the optional ingredients gives this soup a deeper and more authentic flavor.

A one-dish meal, spiced with chili peppers and served over noodles.

If you like broccoli, you’ll love this nourishing bowl of comfort.