10 Minute Broccolini Recipe (2024)

FAQs

How is broccolini made? ›

Sometimes referred to as "baby broccoli," it's actually a hybrid vegetable. Broccolini is a cross between broccoli and Chinese broccoli (also called gai lan or Chinese kale). It looks a lot like Chinese broccoli—the stalks are long and lean—but instead of big leaves, it has florets more like common broccoli.

The best way to experience the health benefits of broccolini is to eat it raw. The stems, leaves, and florets are all edible. You can also choose to steam your broccolini and serve it as a side to complete a tasty, nutritious meal.

Consider storing broccoli and broccolini dry and in an open or unsealed part of your fridge. For most brassicas (aka broccoli's cousins), it's important not to moisten the vegetables before storing. This often leads to discoloration and rot.

Broccolini is actually a cross-breed of broccoli and Chinese broccoli, a leafy vegetable commonly referred to as gai lan in Cantonese or jie lan in Mandarin. You get the florets found in broccoli and the longer stems and leaves found in Chinese broccoli. It's a pretty logical mix of the two.

Because of its newness and because it provides less quantity in a stalk, broccolini is typically more expensive than broccoli. Substitutes for broccolini are traditional broccoli, Chinese broccoli, broccoli rabe, cauliflower, and asparagus (because broccolini's sweeter flavor is similar to asparagus' sweeter notes).

Cooking Method #1: Blanching

Add a heaping tablespoon of salt. Add the broccoli florets and cook until crisp-tender, 1 to 1 1/2 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and plunge immediately in the ice water. Let the water come back to a boil, then cook the stems until they are also crisp-tender, 1 1/2 to 2 minutes.

Place 3/4 to 1 inch of water in a saucepan with a steamer and bring to a boil. (Note that if you don't have a steamer, you can simply put the broccoli directly into an inch of boiling water.) Add broccoli, steam 5 to 6 min: Add the broccoli to the steamer and cover; reduce heat to medium and let cook for 5-6 minutes.

Trim about 1/2-inch off the bottom of the Broccolini stems. Heat the oil in a large straight-sided skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add the Broccolini and sauté until the Broccolini is bright green and some of the stems and tips of the florets are lightly charred, 5 to 7 minutes.

As broccoli is rich in Potassium that causes lowering of blood pressure, an excess consumption can result in hypotension. An excess broccoli consumption can also increase the risk of hemorrhagic stroke. Patient on blood thinners can have increased risk of bleeding due to the presence of Vitamin K in broccoli.

The verdict. Broccolini – by a hair's breadth! Nutritionally, the two brassicas are very similar. But the excellent vitamin A content of broccolini, together with the fact that it needs less prep and there's no waste, gives it the edge over broccoli for us.

How long to boil broccoli? ›

Break apart the florets. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add the broccoli florets and cook, uncovered, until tender, 2 to 3 minutes depending on the size of the florets. Drain into a colander, transfer to a plate, sprinkle with salt and pepper and serve with lemon wedges.

Rather than producing one large head like broccoli, Broccolini yields several slender six- to seven-inch-long sweet and tender stalks topped with bite-size heads. Under favorable condi- tions, harvests continue into late spring and early summer, and it can be plant- ed again in late summer for fall harvest.

Cut about 1-2 inches off the bottom of the stems. Separate the stalks: Gently split the broccolini stalks apart from the center, allowing them to naturally separate into smaller clusters. Trim the larger stalks: If you have any larger stalks, you can use a knife or peeler to remove the tough outer layer.

You do need to trim off the very end of broccolini before cooking, which takes all of 20 seconds (I line up the stems and trim the whole bunch at once). Other than *maybe* this Roasted Frozen Broccoli, vegetable prep doesn't get much easier or faster than when you are cooking broccoli.

Despite what you may have heard, Broccolini is not baby broccoli. This lanky vegetable is a hybrid first created in 1993. Broccolini a cross between broccoli and Chinese broccoli. It has small florets, long stalks, and a few small leaves — all of which are edible.

Broccolini® is a naturally developed hybrid vegetable belonging to the Brassicaceae family. The sweet and tender variety was produced from traditional hand-pollinated crosses between gai lan and broccoli and is not genetically modified.

A hybrid of broccoli and gai lan (Chinese kale/Chinese broccoli), it was created in Japan in the 1990s via traditional handpollination methods, not genetic engineering . Sweeter and milder in flavor than broccoli, some say it has notes of pepper.

Genuine trademarked Broccolini^® is a varietal cross between broccoli and Chinese kale. It has a mild, peppery sweet flavour and it's completely edible, from its tender stems to delicate tips – so there's nothing to cut, nothing to waste! It is not ordinary broccoli picked early.