Meatless Monday’s…week 10…#Broccoli Stems… Soup anyone?

Why Meatless Mondays?…a meatless any day you choose is fine it just makes more and more sense to cut down the meat we consume…

Introducing more plant-based meals into your diet can help you maintain a healthy weight if you have some weight to lose then adding more plant-based meals has the benefit of removing foods from your diet which cause weight gain.

Plants are high in fibre…this means by introducing more plant-based recipes to your diet that the health of your gut improves so you are better able to absorb the nutrients from your food… you will be eating foods that support your immune system and reduce inflammation.

Fibre can lower cholesterol and stabilize blood sugar and it’s great for good bowel management…

I was astonished as to how popular the cauliflower is and how many restaurants are making cauliflower pizza bases and rice etc…there will be a part 2 on cauliflower as I have discovered many more recipes which I want to try…

Today though it is Broccoli...is that as popular?

For years I used to throw the broccoli stems in the composter or the bin it has only been in recent years where I have been more aware of waste and have been looking at what I would normally bin/compost…Broccoli coins (because they do look like a coin…are delicious as a vegetable…

brocolli stems sliced

They don’t look as pretty as some veggies but the taste…truly makes up for that…stir-fried with some garlic, soy sauce, freshly grated ginger and a splash of sesame oil a lovely side dish…julienne then saute in some unsalted butter or coconut oil add then add to omelettes or frittatas…raw dip them into your hummus so many ways you can use them.

Today I am using them to make soup…many soups take a while to cook but this one is ready in 20  mins. Initially, I made this soup with the following ingredients and it was lovely…Then the tweaking started…

Dairy-Free Broccoli Stem Soup.

Ingredients:

  • 1 tbsp good olive oil
  • 1 small brown onion halved and cut into moons
  • 2/3 cloves of garlic finely chopped
  • 4 cups Broccoli stems trimmed and cut into coins.
  • Salt & Freshly ground pepper to taste.
  • 3 cups organic vegetable stock.

Let’s Cook!

Heat oil in a pan and add onions, garlic and broccoli coins…cook gently stirring often to avoid browning the vegetables until broccoli is tender about 10 mins.

broccoli stems

Add stock and season…Allow to cool a little we don’t want any accident if it spurts from the blender…

Taste and season…my taste testers liked it like this but suggested some of my Spanish Smoked Paprika…I just added the tip of a tsp as it is quite strong…it was also very nice if you just want that little zing that good smoked paprika lends to the taste.

Stage 2…The soup is now not dairy-free…

  • A little unsalted butter
  • 1 apple peeled, cored and sliced

To serve/garnish:

A spoonful of natural live yoghurt per serving.

Freshly grated Parmesan cheese and a light sprinkling of smoked paprika.

Let’s Cook…Take 2…

Heat the butter and add the apples stir until soft this took about 5 mins. I then added the apple slices to my soup and blended…

Broccoli stem soup with apple

To serve I added a spoonful of natural live yoghurt and grated some fresh parmesan over the top then very lightly sprinkled with a little smoked paprika. Served with a slice of my homemade bread it was a lovely lunch.

We all enjoyed the addition of the apple, yoghurt and parmesan. Both the dairy-free option and the one with apple were very nice and we would make it again.

Another lovely way to use the Broccoli stems is to pickle them…

Ingredients:

  • 3 broccoli stalks either coined or julienned
  • 1 tsp sea salt
  • 1 clove of garlic minced
  • 1 tbsp of sugar
  • 1/3 cup of rice vinegar

Let’s Pickle!

Peel and slice broccoli stalks thinly into coins or julienne I do this by hand with a sharp knife but you can use a mandolin or food processor.

Bring the salt, sugar, garlic and rice vinegar to a boil in a saucepan and stir until the sugar is dissolved allow to cool down a little.

Put your prepared broccoli stems into a sterilised jar and pour the vinegar over the stems making sure they are covered if I don’t have quite enough I top up with boiled water. Cover and seal the jar checking for air bubbles and store in the fridge for at least a week before eating…

Of course, there is much more to Broccoli than its stems …

We love broccoli in any shape of form I particularly love the broccolini…a versatile vegetable of which every part of it can be eaten…it can be steamed, stir-fried, eaten raw, pickled on its own or with cauliflower, added to a slaw even roasted with some parmesan…

All of this for another post today it was showcasing those often discarded Broccoli stems.

How is introducing more plant-based meals going in your kitchen… Going well or meeting with some opposition?...

That’s all for today on my journey into eating more plant-based meals on a Meatless Monday……Thank you again to everyone who is suggesting recipes I will try them all…xx

Thank you for reading this post If you have enjoyed this post please leave a comment and any tips or recipes you want to share… I love to chat and share recipes…Love Carol xx

55 thoughts on “Meatless Monday’s…week 10…#Broccoli Stems… Soup anyone?”

  1. Pingback: October 2021…World Vegetarian Day(1st) plus Music, World Hunger, Halloween and what’s in between ? | Retired? No one told me!

  3. WilliamPriceKing

    I love broccoli but never thought of it as a soup. The idea is great and I will act on it. Same for apples, looking forward to this, Carol. I love your posts, there’s always something new. Thanks. Hugs

    Liked by 1 person

  4. dgkaye

    I’m not much of a stem eater (go figure) lol, but I’ve had riced broccoli (no doubt stems) and riced cauliflower, I prefer the riced cauliflower. ❤

    Liked by 1 person

    1. CarolCooks2 Post author

      Thank you and thats what cooking is all about personal taste and learning which I am sure you do what tastes go with what or even sometimes if you know a taste you can hazard guess if it will combine a bit like my broccoli soup I sort of thought an apple would zing it up and it did…:)

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    1. CarolCooks2 Post author

      Yes it is such a shame to waste them and we love them…I am going to try brocolli rice and see what that’s like Iove cauliflower rice so should like that and it will make a change Hugs x

      Liked by 1 person

  7. Pingback: CarolCooks2 weekly roundup…14th March-20th March 2021…#Recipes, Whimsy, Music and Lifestyle Changes | Retired? No one told me!

  9. acflory

    I stopped buying broccoli a few year back when it started getting little critters in amongst the florets. Now I buy broccolini which is like the old broccoli but longer stems and much smaller headers. And we use the whole lot in everything. Just trim off the bottom of the stem before cooking. To be honest, we kind of prefer the stem to the florets! Love the recipe for the soup. Definitely trying that one.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. CarolCooks2 Post author

      Ahhhhh those little critters soak them in saltwater or add some white vinegar to your soaking water and they will be gone..floaters just rinse and soak again..but yes the broccoli is a lovely vegetable…:) x

      Liked by 1 person

      1. acflory

        lol – funnily enough, I seem to have little bugs on my home grown lettuce so I’m doing the white vinegar soak on /them/ and it really works. Never thought of trying it on the broccoli beasts. 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

  12. koolkosherkitchen

    Adding an apple will make for an interesting taste – thank you, dear Carol! As to pickling, I pickle cauliflower stems all the time, but it has not occurred to me to pickle broccoli stems – than you again for a great idea!

    Liked by 1 person

  15. Darlene

    Growing up on a farm on the Canadian prairies, we didn’t waste anything. When mom chopped up a cabbage she would cut out the heart and slice it up for us kids to eat raw as a snack. It was so good, better than candy. Now I often eat the broccoli stems the same way. I also chop them up and put them in a stir fry. They are never thrown away! The soup sounds very good.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. CarolCooks2 Post author

      Thank you, Darlene it was.. I was also taught the same my hubby always has the crunchy middle of the cabbage even now.. Once you peel off that hard woody outer it is quite tender underneath lovely with dips.. 😊X

      Like

  19. beetleypete

    To be honest, I find the stems too bitter, and used to throw them away. But now I buy Purple Sprouting Broccoli instead. Much thinner stems, so I can eat the whole thing. No more waste!
    Best wishes, Pete.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. CarolCooks2 Post author

      I haven’t noticed that Pete if you peel the stems and cut then thinly I don’t find them bitter..but different taste buds…I love the purple sprouting broccoli but it has a short season 🙂 x

      Liked by 2 people

  20. Victoria Zigler

    Thanks for some ideas for using those broccoli stems. I love broccoli, and hate food waste.

    Your dairy version could easily be made dairy-free too by using dairy free alternatives to the butter, yogurt, and cheese. It would change the taste slightly from what yours tasted like, but is an option.

    Liked by 2 people

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