In their hypocritical preaching of human rights and democracy,
Hear them say: “Everyone has a right to life, a right to fair trial and judgement,
A right to dignity…”
Words have tendency to be idle and harmful if unaccompanied by action.
The rhetoric proceeds, “Every Live matters.”
But they know not…
They are unsure of the extent of my plight,
My daily portion as a black man….
What a plight mine is!
(Her original poem is about black immigrants. It illustrates how they are rarely called expatriates, even if they left their original countries on similar terms as their counterparts. To prevent more George Floyds and more marches, racism should be nabbed even in its subtlest manner, not only when things have gone this bad.)
Broccoli falls in the cabbage family and it is distinguished by its flowering crimped head. The difference from its cousin, cauliflower, is in its green instead of white head, and its taste. It has a richer taste than cabbage, but is not as bitterer as kale.
Broccoli is a cool season vegetable, like lettuce, carrots and cauliflower. As these vegetables seem to take long to ripen for harvest, don’t shy away from eating all their parts or you will miss out on the taste and benefits. Yep! We love the florets but broccoli leaves are also edible. We learn everyday. Initially, I was skeptical but after admiring the lush greenery, I got tempted to pick a few leaves and give them a try. Why not, when our trusted Zimbabwean chomolia was laden with pesticides to rid it of aphids.
The best time to start harvesting the leaves is when the crown of the broccoli is still tucked several centimetres below the top of the leaves, the time during which they are soft and juicy. Delaying to start harvesting, cooking and eating the leaves is not a good option. This is because when the florets start to open, the leaves begin to toughen up and lose their taste.
The leaves can be mistaken for kale ; broccoli leaves
When preparing and cooking broccoli leaves, handle them as you would kale, chomolia or any other leafy greens. You can either steam, pan-fry or mix with your meat stews, all to your preferred taste. They taste best (for me) when under or medium done irrespective of the method used.
I discovered that broccoli stems are also delicious; that was on my birthday. My son wanted to spoil me and volunteered to make dinner for the family. He prepared lamb chops, and to go with it he steamed broccoli florets together with stalks. When I finally saw the meal on the table, I could not complain, partly, because as a birthday girl I had to be on my best behaviour. Secondly, because the whole meal looked delectable. Surprisingly, the taste of broccoli stalks did not disappoint; it matched the fresh look. From then I have never looked back, but enjoyed cooking and eating broccoli with its stems.
Making broccoli stalk soup is another good way of not wasting, if you feel that eating all the harder part is not your style. After steaming and blending the stalks, you will surprise yourself at what amazing dinner starter you would have created. To thicken it, use sweet potatoes or butternut. These additives enhance the creaminess. Delicious! I have since learnt juicing broccoli stalks into a variety of our homemade juices. May be in the next post I will include one of my juice recipes.
For now, be bolder and more adventurous with broccoli. Enjoy.
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