Prep for Organic Broccoli
Broccoli is one of my all-time favorite veggies. I have always liked it, even as a kid. My Granny and I were the ones at get-togethers standing by the veggie tray eating the broccoli. It’s something we’ve shared, and I like that.
Here’s the tricky bit, virtually ALL organic broccoli has aphids. Why, well because aphids (the little greenish-grey guys hiding in your florets) love broccoli and are nearly impossible to get rid of organically. Organic eating means dealing with a few bugs rather than ingesting toxic poison. It’s a trade-off, but one that has amazing benefits for your health, and the health of the Earth.
No need to feed your chickens any more of that fabulous broccoli. No need to [gasp] send nasty emails to the hardworking folks at the farm, not that you would do that, ahem [cough, cough].
Here is the method that I used today to get those pesky aphids out of my organic broccoli. First I separated the bunches of broccoli from each other. Then I filled up my sink with cold water about half way. Next I added salt to the water. Think ocean water as you taste it. Seriously, add about a 1/4 to 1/2 cup of salt to your sink. Then comes the part that you may or may not enjoy. I found it astonishing, but rewarding because I now knew that my broccoli would be clean and shiny when I was done. Using a quick plunging motion, crown down in the water, get rid of the aphids. Shake and plunge and shake and plunge. You will see the little buggers just floatin’ away.
Repeat with all of your broccoli and then set them aside, while you drain and rinse out your sink. Then, using a sprayer if you’ve got one, rinse thoroughly with cold running water. Voila! Clean and shiny! Way to go!
Oh! One more thing…Do this as needed. By that I mean, if you want broccoli for dinner, do this as part of your meal prep. Do not do this ahead of time, you will end up with rubbery broccoli. After this careful, loving preparation it would be devastating to rubberize your prized broccoli, no?
Now that my organic broccoli is prepped and ready to enjoy, I can call my Granny!
Typically I turn my nose up at broccoli…BUT I really want to use everything in my CSA box so could you suggest some tasty way to use the broccoli (even if it gets disguised into a soup or something) so that I can be a good girl and clean my plate?!
Hmm, stay tuned and I will give this some thought…