Broccoli parmesan fritters. Last week, it was pointed out to me that among the 750 recipes in the archives, there is but a single recipe that utilizes broccoli.
Just one! (It’s a great one, though.) For comparison, there are 11 recipes that use cauliflower and 26 with mushrooms. What terrible oversight could have led to this? I buy broccoli (and its friends) approximately once a week, year-round but this wasn’t always the case. Please understand: this is not one of those stories about how preciously advanced my toddler’s tastes are, how early he took an interest in foie gras and how he turns his nose up at white flour pastas, preferring farro. I have a theory that you can tuck almost any finely chopped or shredded vegetable — be it potatoes, zucchini, or an Indian-spiced mix — into a savory pancake, fry it in small mounds until crisp on both sides, serve it with a dollop of a sour cream or yogurt sauce and they will be inhaled.
So, you know where this is going. And with that, I had them for lunch instead. Broccoli slaw. I have been craving broccoli something fierce lately. Yes, broccoli as in helloooo, need iron much? Because I am apparently that predictable of a pregnant woman. Not that this bothers me, I’m actually relieved to be craving something, anything but grapes for five minutes. Why I can’t be a normal pregnant woman, mainlining ice cream sundaes and pickles and peanut butter simultaneously, I don’t know, but if grapes and broccoli must be my (terrifically boring) torch to bear, so be it. Alex has a cousin that sometimes graces family gatherings a slaw-style broccoli salad I adore, with chunks of raw broccoli and dried cranberries and some toasted pine nuts or almonds, in a mayo-based dressing.
Thus the combination of a fierce broccoli craving, an overdue broccoli slaw and the notion of having any excuse to make an extra batch of that dressing was all too much for me to bear, and you’ve never seen someone so eagerly lunge at the raw broccoli before noon on a Monday. Spaghetti with broccoli cream pesto. Surely, you didn’t think I was going to stop my hasty populating of the broccoli archives with just one new recipe, right?
I mean, sure, the slaw is still a star. The fritters were great. But when your kid likes broccoli, you will always be on the hunt for new and more advanced Methods of Broccoli Implementation. These days, I’ll read a recipe for a cauliflower dish in a magazine and think: broccoli would work here. I had a watercress salad at a restaurant in which the finest dusting of flavorful breadcrumbs clung to every leaf and thought: broccoli.
And who am I to fight the broccoli love? Ahem. One year ago: Cumin Seed Roasted Cauliflower With YogurtTwo years ago: Single Crust Plum and Apple PieThree years ago: Lebanese-Style Stuffed EggplantFour years ago: Balsamic-Glazed Sweet and Sour Cippoline and Majestic and Moist Honey CakeFive years ago: Spaghetti with Chorizo and Almonds and Couscous and Feta-Stuffed PeppersSix years ago: Acorn Squash with Chile-Lime Vinaigrette.