[0 - 1] - Have you ever seen that commercial
[1 - 3] where the dad reads his kid a bedtime story
[3 - 5] about how all the food in Las Vegas is made of broccoli?
[5 - 8] "They've got broccoli smoothies and broccoli pancakes,
[8 - 10] broccoli ice cream," he tells his son,
[10 - 12] who listens absolutely horrified.
[12 - 12] "And, of course,
[12 - 15] they have raw, unseasoned broccoli, with stems!"
[15 - 17] Now, look, I get why broccoli's the butt of the joke.
[17 - 18] If you want to talk your kids
[18 - 20] out of coming on vacation with you,
[20 - 21] all you have to do
[21 - 23] is tell 'em that the place is full of green vegetables.
[23 - 25] But you know what, broccoli deserves better than that.
[25 - 28] It can be great, snack-worthy even.
[28 - 33] You just gotta know how to treat it right. (playful music)
[33 - 37] Broccoli is a member of one very special plant species, Brassica oleracea.
[37 - 38] A long time ago,
[38 - 41] humans started cultivating a wild cabbage plant
[41 - 43] and selectively picking the traits they wanted.
[43 - 45] This slow process resulted in a species
[45 - 46] that includes everything
[46 - 48] from cauliflower and Brussels sprouts
[48 - 51] to kale and collard greens, and, of course, broccoli.
[51 - 52] Actually many, many more.
[52 - 54] This directly mirrors what happened
[54 - 57] with another very special species, Canis familiaris,
[57 - 59] better known as dogs.
[59 - 61] Just as these brassicas all came from wild cabbage,
[61 - 63] all dogs are descendants of wolves.
[63 - 64] Now, in both cases,
[64 - 67] artificial selection has led to a massive variety
[67 - 68] within the species.
[68 - 71] Kale, which looks exactly like a Portuguese water dog,
[71 - 73] was created by selecting for leaves.
[73 - 76] Broccoli was created by selecting for flowers and stems,
[76 - 77] and it's obviously a poodle.
[77 - 79] I mean, come on, look at it!
[79 - 81] Check out my kale video, which is linked below,
[81 - 83] to learn what brassica is clearly a bulldog.
[83 - 85] A fun fact about those broccoli flowers
[85 - 87] is that the tiny, tightly packed buds
[87 - 90] that make up broccoli crowns inspired the name broccoli,
[90 - 94] an Italian word that means "the flowering crest of cabbage".
[94 - 95] Man, that's beautiful!
[95 - 97] I wish Dan meant "the flowering crest of cabbage".
[99 - 101] Another fun fact is that if you leave broccoli
[101 - 102] in the ground to keep growing,
[102 - 104] those flowers will open up
[104 - 106] into a zillion little yellow blooms.
[106 - 108] Broccoli stands out from some of its brassica brethren
[108 - 111] because it contains two very different parts,
[111 - 113] the crown, which is made up of all those tiny flowers,
[113 - 115] and a big edible stem.
[115 - 117] Now, if you were anything like me as a kid,
[117 - 120] the only way you really got excited about eating broccoli
[120 - 122] was when you pretended to be, say,
[122 - 124] I don't know, a massive brachiosaurus
[124 - 126] munching off the tops of the broccoli trees on your plate.
[126 - 127] That was good, clean fun.
[127 - 129] But did I continue eating the tree
[129 - 130] all the way down the trunk?
[130 - 131] I certainly did not!
[131 - 133] Even as a young man, I dodged broccoli stems
[133 - 135] and paid a premium for crowns.
[135 - 137] Now, before you judge, I know a lot of you do that too,
[137 - 138] because in many markets,
[138 - 141] broccoli crowns are way easier to find than whole broccoli.
[141 - 143] But I've changed, which means you can too,
[143 - 145] and that's why I've gathered you all here today
[145 - 147] to tell you to buy whole broccoli.
[147 - 151] A, it's cheaper, and, B, the stem is incredibly delicious
[151 - 152] if you know how to handle it.
[152 - 153] Let's go to the kitchen
[153 - 155] and learn how to be a professional broccoli butcher.
[155 - 156] Okay, so I start
[156 - 158] by laying the broccoli down on the cutting board
[158 - 159] and I cut crosswise
[159 - 161] from crown to the end of the stem, like this.
[161 - 163] I'm kidding, I'm kidding, I'm kidding!
[163 - 167] Did that make anyone else absolutely shudder? Yeah? Yeah.
[167 - 168] We're like the same person!
[168 - 169] Now, in my humble opinion,
[169 - 171] one of the finest ways to enjoy broccoli is roasting
[171 - 173] because it brings up a whole new level
[173 - 174] of flavor and texture,
[174 - 176] flavor and texture my parents never told me about.
[176 - 181] That's right, Gen Z, we only ever ate steamed broccoli.
[181 - 191] - Please no! (piercing screams) (sighs) (screams continue)
[191 - 194] - So we're gonna prep our broccoli with roasting in mind.
[194 - 195] Now, if you saw my asparagus video,
[195 - 197] you heard me talk about peeling away
[197 - 199] the spear's protective waxy cuticle.
[199 - 201] Broccoli stem has that same kind of tough outer layer,
[201 - 204] which doesn't turn tender the way the interior does.
[204 - 206] I find it gets particularly tough when roasted,
[206 - 207] so we've gotta get rid of it.
[207 - 209] I hold the crown in my left hand
[209 - 210] and then use my vegetable peeler
[210 - 212] to peel all around the circumference of the stem.
[212 - 215] Any little bits of lighter green won't tenderize.
[215 - 216] As a side benefit,
[216 - 218] peeling actually helps with flavor as well.
[218 - 219] Peeling activates the enzymatic reaction
[219 - 223] that converts sulforaphane into flavorful isothiocyanates.
[223 - 224] While I've got my peeler out
[224 - 227] and I've got that peeling feeling, as they say,
[227 - 228] let's do a quick sidebar on peeling.
[228 - 231] I find that people either love these Y-peelers
[231 - 232] or they can't stand them.
[232 - 234] And I think for the people that can't stand them,
[234 - 236] some of it comes down to how they hold the peeler.
[236 - 237] There are actually three different ways
[237 - 239] to grip and use a Y-peeler,
[239 - 241] and that depends on the produce you're working with.
[241 - 242] To peel wide swaths of skin
[242 - 244] on something substantial like butternut squash,
[244 - 246] hold the peeler like this,
[246 - 248] with your thumb and index finger on opposite sides.
[248 - 249] This gives you good power
[249 - 251] to work through tougher skins and peels.
[251 - 254] When peeling round vegetables and fruits like this apple,
[254 - 255] wrap your hand around the handle
[255 - 257] and place your thumb on the produce like this.
[257 - 259] This hold provides tons of control
[259 - 260] so that you can easily follow
[260 - 262] the natural curvature of the fruit.
[262 - 265] Finally, when peeling things like asparagus and carrots,
[265 - 267] where you want to take off thin, delicate strips
[267 - 269] without too much of the flesh below,
[269 - 272] pinch the handle between your thumb and forefinger like this
[272 - 273] and make movements with your wrist.
[273 - 274] You can work very quickly
[274 - 276] without removing too much material.
[276 - 278] For broccoli stems, I use the first method
[278 - 280] because the outer skin is tough
[280 - 281] and there are undulations
[281 - 283] that require some serious force to get through.
[283 - 285] Now we'll just separate the stem from the crown
[285 - 288] and break it down into 1/2" thick pieces
[288 - 290] about 2-3" in length. Beautiful!
[290 - 292] At this point, we need to separate the crown
[292 - 293] into smaller florets.
[293 - 296] Florets are cute, like little baby broccoli trees. They're adorable,
[296 - 298] but their round shape isn't great for browning.
[298 - 300] For that, we need flat sides
[300 - 302] that make good contact with the sheet pan.
[302 - 303] Check out this experiment.
[303 - 304] I have two pieces of broccoli
[304 - 305] that I roasted on the same sheet
[305 - 308] in the same 400-degree oven for the same amount of time.
[308 - 310] This one has a wide flat side,
[310 - 312] while this one is a cute little round floret,
[312 - 314] and just look at the massive difference in browning.
[315 - 316] That flat side is deeply browned.
[316 - 318] Compare that to this piece of broccoli,
[318 - 320] which picked up just a tiny bit of browning
[320 - 321] where it contacted the sheet.
[321 - 324] That difference is surface area, and you want lots of it.
[324 - 326] More surface area equals more browning,
[326 - 327] which equals more flavor.
[327 - 330] Slicing through the florets like this to create wedges
[330 - 332] that sit flush with the cooking surface and brown deeply
[333 - 334] makes a lot of sense,
[334 - 338] but it also leads to my arch nemesis, broccoli dust.
[338 - 340] Just look at the mess left on my cutting board.
[340 - 341] Now check this out!
[341 - 343] Instead of slicing all the way through the florets,
[343 - 344] I make my cuts
[344 - 346] through just the light green parts of the stem.
[346 - 347] Then once I've made those cuts,
[347 - 350] I pick up the broccoli and simply pull it apart.
[350 - 352] This way, the florets separate at natural seams.
[352 - 355] Not only is there no broccoli dust to deal with,
[355 - 358] but each section looks pretty and natural. So nice!
[358 - 361] Now, roasting vegetables generally goes something like this.
[361 - 362] Oil a baking sheet,
[362 - 364] place the cutup vegetables on that sheet,
[364 - 366] transfer it to a very hot oven,
[366 - 368] usually in the range of 400 to 500 degrees,
[368 - 371] and roast until the veggies are tender and well-browned.
[371 - 372] That's a solid approach,
[372 - 374] but there are a couple of tweaks we can make
[374 - 376] so that are broccoli browns exceptionally well.
[376 - 378] First, we pop our baking sheet in the oven
[378 - 380] and preheat it to 500 degrees.
[380 - 382] Think of it like preheating a skillet before adding food.
[382 - 384] Then instead of oiling the baking sheet,
[384 - 386] we'll add it directly to the broccoli.
[386 - 388] This targeted approach means we don't have pools
[388 - 389] of oil on the baking sheet
[390 - 392] that overheat and smoke in the oven.
[392 - 393] After adding the oil,
[393 - 395] we toss the broccoli with a little salt and pepper,
[395 - 397] and a dash of sugar.
[397 - 398] Now, this is a tiny amount,
[398 - 400] so it's not enough to make the broccoli taste sweet.
[400 - 402] It just helps it brown a little more rapidly
[402 - 404] so that we get a beautiful bronze color
[404 - 406] before the interior overcooks.
[406 - 410] (attempts a wolf whistle)
[410 - 411] Not that good at that.
[411 - 413] Look at this gorgeous platter of broccoli.
[413 - 415] I could eat this tray by myself just like this,
[415 - 417] but that doesn't mean I don't want to cover it
[417 - 418] with flavorful toppings
[418 - 420] that would make even potato chips jealous.
[420 - 422] Check out these tasty seasoning combos
[422 - 424] that Deputy Food Editor Andrea Geary dreamed up.
[424 - 426] They add flavor and texture
[426 - 427] without sogging out the broccoli
[427 - 430] and undoing all of that good crisping work we did.
[430 - 431] Parmesan and black pepper
[431 - 433] is like cacio e pepe meets broccoli.
[433 - 435] Toasted sesame seeds and orange zest,
[435 - 437] which is Andrea's take on gomasio,
[437 - 439] the ubiquitous Japanese sesame salt.
[439 - 441] And the Cook's Illustrated staff favorite,,
[441 - 443] this smoky sunflower seed business
[443 - 445] that's like a ballpark snack
[445 - 447] you'll want to sprinkle on everything.
[447 - 448] These are so good!
[448 - 451] I'll admit, I went pretty nerdy on broccoli today,
[451 - 453] but, you know what, I think it was worth it
[453 - 458] because this is definitely how to eat broccoli.
[458 - 460] (playful music ends)
[460 - 462] Are you also just now realizing
[462 - 464] that your parents tricked you out of a vacation
[464 - 466] by telling you that all the food there would be broccoli?
[467 - 469] If you'd gone on that Vegas trip,
[469 - 470] you'd be so rich right now.
[470 - 472] Either way, check out the links below
[472 - 473] to our favorite broccoli recipes
[474 - 475] and all of those great toppings.
[475 - 478] Thanks to Deputy Food Editor Andrea Geary for those.
[478 - 480] Don't forget to hit that like button
[480 - 482] and be sure to subscribe to the show for more episodes.
[482 - 484] Oh, and I'd love to hear
[484 - 485] some of your suggestions in the comments
[485 - 487] about topics you want me to cover next.
[487 - 489] Thanks for watching and I'll see you next time.