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Broccoli is my favorite vegetable. I like cooked and raw. I also like broccolini. I suspect over the years I’ve eaten a variety of broccoli types, but what I didn’t realize is that there are 20 types of broccoli.
Which type of broccoli is best?
10 Outstanding Heading Broccoli Varieties Belstar. ‘Belstar’ is a hybrid variety that is known for growing well in the South in the winter. Calabrese. ‘Calabrese’ is an heirloom variety, and a prime selection for Zones 3-10. Destiny. DiCicco. Eastern Magic. Green Magic. Purple Sprouting. Romanesco.
What is fancy broccoli called?
Romanesco is one seriously cool vegetable. It’s intricate, mathematical pattern makes it a fractal (you are totally allowed to nerd out on that). It’s part of the brassica family (other members: cabbage, kale, and cauliflower), and has a flavor similar to broccoli.
What are tiny broccoli called?
Broccolini or baby broccoli is a green vegetable similar to broccoli but with smaller florets and longer, thin stalks.
What are the 3 types of broccoli?
Calabrese broccoli, destiny broccoli, and belstar broccoli — these are the different varieties of broccoli. When you see broccoli in the produce section, it’s like likely one of these. It has a thick stalk and is part of the cabbage family.
What is the most common broccoli?
The most familiar is Calabrese broccoli, often referred to simply as “broccoli”, named after Calabria in Italy. It has large (10 -to 20-cm) green heads and thick stalks. It is a cool-season annual crop. Sprouting broccoli (white or purple) has a larger number of heads with many thin stalks.
What is the difference between Chinese broccoli and regular broccoli?
Here is the difference: Regular broccoli – With thick, crisp stalks topped with rounded green florets, broccoli is a member of the cabbage family. It has a grassy, earthy flavor that’s mildly bitter. Chinese broccoli has a slightly bitter and earthy taste, and is best after a quick steam or sauté, or in a stir-fry.
What is the difference between broccoli and broccolini?
Though you can taste both the broccoli and the Chinese broccoli in the hybrid broccolini, broccolini is sweeter than broccoli, which it owes to the gai lan. Specialty Produce says the stems have a crunchy texture and succulent flavor, while the leaves and florets are a “delicate, brittle, and crisp” texture.
What is a cross between a cauliflower and a broccoli?
Romanesco, also known as broccoflower or Roman cauliflower, is a chartreuse, unique-looking vegetable prized for its appearance and mild flavor. It is sometimes assumed to be a hybrid between broccoli and cauliflower but is botanically different (although related).
Is there purple broccoli?
Purple baby broccoli is distinguished by its small loose clusters of florets sprouting from a slender stem that also produce side shoots and bladed leaves. The floret clusters and leaves have a trademark violet hue with pistachio green undertones.
Is broccolini and baby broccoli the same thing?
But even though broccolini is cute, and even though the name might suggest otherwise, broccolini isn’t baby broccoli. It just isn’t. Broccolini is more closely related to broccoli than it is bitter broccoli rabe, which is actually in the turnip family.
Is asparagus related to broccoli?
So, what is the difference between broccoli and asparagus? Broccoli is a part of the Brassicaceae family and has a thick stem with a cloud-looking top while asparagus is skinny and long with a spear-like head and a part of the Asparagaceae family.
What’s the healthiest type of broccoli?
The stalk contains the most fiber, while broccoli leaves are highest in cell-protecting antioxidants, vitamins E and K, and calcium. At the store or farmers market, look for fresh broccoli with dark green or purple, not yellow, florets.
How do you identify broccoli?
Broccoli plants grow to maximum average heights and widths of about 3 feet. The stems are thick, with multiple branches. In young and fully grown plants, the leaves are long, usually circling the flower head, with large, wavy margins. They have a waxy texture and are bluish-green in color, with white veins.
Is kale a broccoli?
Broccoli was created from a kale predecessor in the 1500s by selecting for the larger flower clusters, which are then harvested before they bloom. Cauliflower was developed from one of hundreds of broccoli varieties.
Is there blue broccoli?
Why blue broccoli is OK to eat This broccoli may look a little blue, but there’s nothing to be sad about here. This head just happens to have slightly different coloring than its neighbors. Two factors could be giving this head a bluish cast.
Is broccoli a vegetable or a fruit?
The head, or flower, vegetables include artichokes, broccoli, and cauliflower. The fruits commonly considered vegetables by virtue of their use include cucumbers, eggplant, okra, sweet corn, squash, peppers, and tomatoes. Seed vegetables are usually legumes, such as peas and beans.
Does all broccoli taste the same?
There’s a compound in broccoli that not everyone can taste – but it can make it bitter and basically unpalatable. Different populations vary widely on how many people can taste the bitterness of broccoli – more specifically, glucosinolate compounds, which chemically resemble phenylthiocarbamide (PTC).
What’s Italian broccoli called?
Broccoli rabe (Brassica ruvo) is also called rapini, raab, or rabe (both pronounced “rahb”), bitter broccoli, and turnip broccoli. The Italian name cime di rape means “turnip tops” and in Italy it’s also known as rapini or broccoleti di rapa, while friarelli is common in Naples.
Is broccoli rabe healthier than broccoli?
A nutrition superstar, rapini satisfies more than 50% of your daily recommended value of vitamins C and A. It also delivers iron and vitamin K, which is important for bone strength. It’s also just one step beneath regular broccoli (but in line with spinach) for protein content.
Is broccoli or broccolini healthier?
The nutritional lowdown Broccolini has slightly more phosphorus, manganese and calcium than broccoli – all vital for bone health. But it really wins out in the vitamin A stakes, providing almost four times more than broccoli.
Are rapini and broccoli rabe the same thing?
Lastly, we have broccoli rabe, also known as rapini, which is not a broccoli derivative at all and is instead more closely related to the turnip. It’s a bitter green, similar to a mustard green, with thin stalks, little buds, and lots and lots of leaves.
Why is broccolini so expensive?
As for the price tag, there’s a good reason why broccolini is more expensive than broccoli. A bunch of broccoli consists of two or three stalks of broccoli, so it takes three simple cuts to harvest. A bunch of broccolini has 15 to 20 stalks. That’s a lot more work — and a lot more money.
Is Chinese broccoli healthier than regular broccoli?
Chinese broccoli is harvested just as the first flower buds begin to open. This is one of the world’s most nutritious vegetables, with one of the highest calcium contents of any food. It’s also rich in iron, vitamin A, and vitamin C.
