brocolli stems
Posted by rainbowfairywings on Feb 25, 2007 · Member since Sep 2006 · 33 posts
Hey - is it okay to cook and eat brocolli stems? I'm putting brocolli in my soup and was wanting to chop the stem in 'coins'
Is this a bad idea?
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Chop away, they're fabulous. I like to eat the stems raw while I chop up the tops. They are also completely steamable, fryable, or whatever. Most people cut off the tough bottom, but other than that, I think you can eat the whole thing!
waste not want not, i eat the whole thing! i do however cut off the very bottom, because it does tend to be tough, and kind of stringy. I have always eaten broccoli stems and i turned out just fine... well fairly normal anyway! :P
The stems are my favorite part. I cut off the bottom and sometimes peel the outside if it is tough.
Yeah, I eat them too. I hate throwing stuff away. You can see some in my picture of the unbeef stew on this site. I didn't even bother to cut them up that much.
http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=10192.0
I cut them into match sticks and use them for dip. To me the very best of brocolli are the leaves. stir fried or the little tinder ones in salad!!
They are tasty. I 'shave' the sides, chop off the bottom and eat it. Grate into a salad, cut into 'carrot sticks' and dip them, cut into 'coins' and put them in soups or steam briefly, but they usually make it into my mouth before they get into a pot to be cooked.
i use them in my broc soup too. i take them out whilst blending the rest then re add them just before serving and it gives a nice floral look i think.
It's really easy to peel broccoli stems; just cut a slice off the bottom, then holding the stem upsidedown, grasp the peel between your thumb and the knife blade (making a small cut) and pull "against the grain." The stem is completely edible once peeled. I like it better than the florets, because the stem pieces don't get stuck in your teeth! :D You can chop the stem in matchsticks, coins or whatever sort of piece takes your fancy...if you do that a lot of people don't even know what it is and don't object.
Love broccoli stems (cauli-cheese with carrot batons and broccoli florets and stems is delish!). I also like purple sprouting broccoli leaves, which i saute.
I usually sautee the stems with some garlic, until everything is nice and soft, and throw it in the food processor and add it to my soup or pasta to thicken up the sauce. So good.
Definitely-- the stems have tons and tons of fiber. They even sell pre-shredded broccoli slaw in the grovery store now, which is just shredded stems. We haven't ever bought the pre-packaged stuff, but we've made our own and it's very tasty!
I like to eat these raw, but I don't like them in dishes. When my boys were little, I would nibble on the stems while I cooked. They asked me to share, so I peeled the woody part and made sticks for them. They called them "broccoli stamps" for years because they misheard "stems." The girls still call them that sometimes too.
Eat away!!! They won't hurt you a bit.