How to make tasty broccoli that you will love

Recently I was discussing broccoli with a friend. She mentioned that she had hated broccoli as a kid, but now as a grown-up, she learned to eat it. But she still wasn't in love with it. I exclaimed: But how can you not love it? She then answered that it was its watery, slimy taste that she didn't like.

Then I understood. Yes, even I'm not partial to broccoli when it’s simply boiled. It loses its taste and crunchiness. So here’s a sure-fire way to cook and enjoy broccoli.

1^st step: Wash the broccoli. If you buy super fresh broccoli, there might be little critters in it. So soaking the entire head of broccoli in water with vinegar is the best way to go.

2^nd step: Cut the broccoli in little florets, or ‘trees’ as I once explained to a little kid. I keep the stem and chop it also because I don’t like food going to waste.

3^rd step: Cook the broccoli by vapor. If you don’t have one of these, you might want to invest in one. They’re cheap and cooking vegetables this way is the best way to conserve their vitamins. And plus, they keep their crunchiness, different from boiling them.

What you do is you place a little water in a pot, place this metal collector on top with the broccoli inside, cover with a lid and boil the water. The water vapor will rise and cook the broccoli without immerging the broccoli in water.

The broccoli will be done when it’s dark green and soft.

4th step:  Sauté the broccolis with your favorite condiments! I like heating olive oil in a skillet and adding chopped garlic. In the picture, I added grated ginger root to give an extra flavor. You can also experiment with herbes de provence, chopped onion & soy sauce, tomato sauce, etc.

Chopped garlic and ginger

Note: It is possible to skip step 3 and directly sauté the broccoli. It will take longer, the broccoli will be crispier, and it will need more oil. The extra heat also takes away some of the precious vitamins. In the end, the florets may be more to your taste but it’s generally a less healthy option. I recommend doing the main cooking by vapor instead of frying.

All done! Now here are some quick facts about broccoli and why I love them so much:

-It has lots of iron, like other dark-green vegetables.

-It also has important quantities of beta-carotene.

-It’s high in Vitamin C

All in all, broccoli is a cheap super food. Enjoy!

Thanksgiving special: sweet potatoes!

Back on track for the Thanksgiving and Christmas specials. Here's a very easy dish that can be served on the side: sweet potatoes!

Sweet potatoes look like this:

All you do is peel it. . .

Chop it . . .

Boil it, and that's it. No salt, folks. Potatoes are done when you can spear them easily with a fork.

It's easy, full of vitamins, and gives a little sweetness to your meal.

How to make mini pizzas in 3 minutes

Got one hour between one class and another and you have to eat? But you really, really don't want to eat insta-noodles again, do you?

No worries!! There are healthier alternatives!

Here's how to transform whatever you have in your refrigerator into a delicious lunch.

#1. First, gather up all the ingredients that you have in your refrigerator.  I used a tomato, tomato sauce, tofu, and the rest of my whole wheat bread. But you can use an onion, bell peppers, zucchini, etc. Any  veggie will work.

Start by cutting your bread and placing the sauce on top (or olive oil, if you don't have sauce).

#2. Decorate your "pizzas" with the veggies that you have. Season with oregano, basil, olive oil and salt.

#3. Bake until your veggies are cooked. Voilà! Enjoy your meal!

How to make popcorn

Ah, popcorn! My favorite low-budget student snack! Who has never chomped nervously on popcorn while figuring out a tough integral or while stressed to finish a report on time?

Needless to say, I have jars and jars of popcorn kernels in my closet.

But how do you pop them without burning them?

#1. Cover the bottom of a pot with oil. Yes, cover it completely in oil. You can substitute the oil with melted butter or margarine, but be careful. Too little and the popcorn will be hard and tasteless.

#2. Let the oil heat up on its own for a minute.

#3. Place enough popcorn kernels to cover the bottom of the pot in one layer. That's the trick to making just enough popcorn. If your kernels start to over lap, you might have put in too much.

#4. Let the popcorn fry without a lid until the kernels turn yellowish. This is the real secret. I'm not sure why this works so well, but I found it a couple years ago online and it's been working magic for me ever since.

#5. Cover the pot with a lid. Keep listening.

#6. Once there are a good number of popped kernels, shake the pot to make sure that the unpopped kernels are still on the bottom.

#7. Keep listening. Stick to the 2 second rule: If you can count to 2 in Mississippis without any popcorn popping, that means that your popcorn is done.

#8. Take the pot off the heat, but with the lid still on. Unpopped kernels might still pop.

Salt away and eat! Go back to studying, you!


But if you want to make your popcorn special, you can season it! This is my favorite family recipe : 4 season popcorn. The four seasons are : salt, black pepper, red pepper (or Tabasco), and lemon juice. Season with taste!