# Diners, Please! Enough with the Broccoli! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** food-cooking\ **Created:** [June 26, 2024, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diners-please-enough-with-the-broccoli/1003373 "2024-06-26T19:32:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2024, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diners-please-enough-with-the-broccoli/1003373/81 "2024-06-30T19:09:27Z")
In a pot, with a little water in the bottom, and some butter and dill on top. I guess basically steamed. But they never get that watery texture that the frozen ones have, and the skin never separates. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2024, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diners-please-enough-with-the-broccoli/1003373/82 "2024-06-30T19:56:48Z")
I like to air fry at high temperature so that 10% of the florets are a bit singed. If stalks are tough at all I parboil then air dry first. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2024, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diners-please-enough-with-the-broccoli/1003373/83 "2024-06-30T20:23:46Z")
Some people have a genetic predisposition against eating broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables, making those vegetables taste bitter, as you can read about it in this: > **[Broccoli](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broccoli)** > > Broccoli (Brassica oleracea var. italica) is an edible green plant in the cabbage family (family Brassicaceae, genus Brassica) whose large flowering head, stalk and small associated leaves are eaten as a vegetable. Broccoli is classified in the Italica cultivar group of the species Brassica oleracea. Broccoli has large flower heads, or florets, usually dark green, arranged in a tree-like structure branching out from a thick stalk, which is usually light green. The mass of flower heads is surro... ---
**Author:** ![DoctorJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctorj/32/2904_2.png) [@DoctorJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoctorJ)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2024, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diners-please-enough-with-the-broccoli/1003373/84 "2024-06-30T20:48:20Z")
I don’t know why more people don’t roast their broccoli in the oven. Just throw it in a hot oven with olive oil and salt. Sometimes I’ll add some red miso. Add some chopped garlic about halfway through, and some Parmesan if you want, squeeze on a lemon when it’s done. Only way I ever do it at home. ---
**Author:** ![Eclipse\_Chaser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@Eclipse\_Chaser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eclipse_Chaser)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2024, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diners-please-enough-with-the-broccoli/1003373/85 "2024-07-01T08:30:00Z")
I eat a lot of broccoli since I was told I had to change my diet and eat more veg. I like it as long as it is steamed till just short of tender, sort of “al dente”. Soft is yucky. And I eat quite a lot of the stalks, there’s more flavour in that. My new peeve in restaurants here in the UK is the “cauliflower steak” which turns up on the menu as presumably the veggy option. But callling it “STEAK”? Come on, who do you think you’re fooling, that is offensive! ---
**Author:** ![Sylvanz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Sylvanz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sylvanz)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2024, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diners-please-enough-with-the-broccoli/1003373/86 "2024-07-02T03:51:00Z")
My daughter calls then, “leafy eyeballs.” 😄 ---
**Author:** ![Sylvanz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Sylvanz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sylvanz)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2024, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diners-please-enough-with-the-broccoli/1003373/87 "2024-07-02T03:52:27Z")
This sounds delicious. I think I’ll give it a try. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2024, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diners-please-enough-with-the-broccoli/1003373/88 "2024-07-02T17:23:21Z")
Maybe it’s the restaurants I’ve frequented, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen succotash as a menu offering; even country-style eateries. Lima beans are tough to find, as well. Someone upthread mentioned corn-on-the-cob not being in restaurants. As much as love it, I can kind of see why: you got two to six people sitting at a table, both elbows planted firmly on the deck, plowing through an ear, sounding like Homer at the buffet, trying to figure out how to keep the ear horizontal whilst more butter and/or salt is applied, community stick of butter? Guess again. Then, upon completion, inspect the table — no matter how daintily you eat, the table cloth will probably resemble a war zone. Baby in a high chair gets an ear? Good for a laugh. Well, now I’ve gone and done it: I got a hankerin for some C-o-t-c. This is where I leave you. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2024, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diners-please-enough-with-the-broccoli/1003373/89 "2024-07-02T17:32:41Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > I don’t think I’ve ever seen succotash as a menu offering I haven’t seen it since I was a kid. > [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > I got a hankerin for some C-o-t-c. I have a couple of rib-eyes for the holiday/weekend/whenever Mrs. L.A. decides to start eating again. I’ll make corn onna cob to go with it. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2024, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diners-please-enough-with-the-broccoli/1003373/90 "2024-07-02T17:37:15Z")
Ah, food of the Gods. It’s probably a good thing we’re at opposite ends of the country. 😁 ---
**Author:** ![Sylvanz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Sylvanz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sylvanz)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2024, 8:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diners-please-enough-with-the-broccoli/1003373/91 "2024-07-07T08:48:04Z")
I’ve only _heard_ of succotash on looney tunes, as in sufferin’. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2024, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diners-please-enough-with-the-broccoli/1003373/92 "2024-08-05T06:55:32Z")
Back when I was a kid, I would only eat the bushy part of the broccoli, and my sister would only eat the stems. It made it real easy on our parents. They’d just cut everything up and give each of us our favorite part. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2024, 8:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diners-please-enough-with-the-broccoli/1003373/93 "2024-08-05T08:53:04Z")
> [@NDP](#): > > And nobody eats the stalks either so just cut it off from the florets and throw it away. …actually the stalks are my favorite part of broccoli, can I have your stalks? ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2024, 9:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diners-please-enough-with-the-broccoli/1003373/94 "2024-08-05T09:11:18Z")
I like broccoli, and always have. It’s like eating trees. Of course, back in the 1960s, I had a mother who marveled at how wonderful it was that we now had frozen foods, and she could whip up (i.e. boil from frozen) broccoli any time. Sure, it was pretty bland, but look how easy it is to prepare! Frozen Brussels sprouts though—those were nasty. I understand that there is a way to prepare them from fresh so that they are actually tasty, but just boiling them from frozen did not make me a fan of them in any form. But broccoli? Nice and fresh, it makes a nice snack, especially with ranch dressing to dip it in. ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2024, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diners-please-enough-with-the-broccoli/1003373/95 "2024-08-05T14:12:36Z")
I love broccoli in all forms. Raw florets in a veggie or relish tray is one of the rare times I enjoy ranch salad dressing. That Ameri-Chinese beef & broccoli is primarily about the toothsome but saucy broccoli, lightly sauteed but over high heat, and less about the low-end, velveted-to-within-an-inch-of-its-life, jaw treadmills they call beef. > [@Ponch8](#): > > Related gripe: why is fruit salad always 80% cantaloupe & honeydew, and 20% other fruit? I’m in a hotel breakfast lounge at the moment and noticed the bowl of fruit salad offered was down to honeydew and cantaloupe chunks with a few flecks of whatever else had been in there. Watermelon, for sure, but maybe some berries? Pineapple? A couple sliced apples & oranges? Gone before I got there but the guests of this Hampton Inn have cast their ballots and confirmed the Honeydew-Cantaloupe ticket as Garbage Melon for another day. (I’ve been in DC and everything’s still a little democracy & liberty tinted) ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2024, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diners-please-enough-with-the-broccoli/1003373/96 "2024-08-05T14:25:56Z")
> [@jnglmassiv](#): > > (I’ve been in DC and everything’s still a little democracy & liberty tinted) I find it encouraging that you found DC to be democracy and liberty tinted! ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2024, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diners-please-enough-with-the-broccoli/1003373/97 "2024-08-05T14:44:42Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > > [@NDP](#): > > > > And nobody eats the stalks either so just cut it off from the florets and throw it away. > > …actually the stalks are my favorite part of broccoli, can I have your stalks? I like both the florets are more fun, but if I’m being honest, the stalks taste better. If the skin is tough, i peel the stalks when i cut up the broccoli. ---
**Author:** ![Cardigan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardigan/32/187_2.png) [@Cardigan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardigan)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2024, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diners-please-enough-with-the-broccoli/1003373/98 "2024-08-05T14:59:53Z")
I wish virtually all brassicas would just go away. Yuck! Maybe keep cabbage around if it agrees to behave. You know, confine itself to becoming sauerkraut or kimchee, but only with special permission. Otherwise…yeah, just get rid of 'em. ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2024, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diners-please-enough-with-the-broccoli/1003373/99 "2024-08-05T15:45:56Z")
I very much enjoyed my visit to DC and found the gravity of the place potent and comforting. It was also very clean and easy to get around the sites & airport. The Metro subway system makes ours in Chicago look and smell like a circus caravan. As a tourist, I saw very, very little political signage or ephemera or indications of current events/election cycle. Some souvenir items like Trump/Kamala/Brandon/Obama hats, shirts, and mousepads from street vendors and the odd ‘Free Palestine’ decal or graffito on a lamp post were about all. A 20 degree/20% reduction in heat/humidity would have been welcomed but at least the rain mostly held off. ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2024, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diners-please-enough-with-the-broccoli/1003373/100 "2024-08-05T16:40:44Z")
I like my broccoli fresh, either roasted in evoo and salt or steamed topped with cottage cheese and chili crisp oil. I remember mom serving succotash growing up and something called chow chow which was a crossover pickled succotash-like relish. A lot of her cooking was influenced by the Penn Dutch as was her mom and GMA too [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diners-please-enough-with-the-broccoli/1003373.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diners-please-enough-with-the-broccoli/1003373.md?page=6)