Eat Your Veggies: Romanesco

This week at the grocery store my daughter and I came across a most unusual-looking, new-to-us vegetable that looks like a pointy, geometric cross between a cauliflower and broccoli. It was so beautiful that we both stopped to check it out! The sticker on the vegetable said "Romanesco;" The label on the stand said "Romanesco Broccoli" and then, when checking out, the same veggie rang up as "Romanesco Cauliflower." So what is it??



Well, it's all of the above! It's a cross between cauliflower and broccoli that grows in a gorgeous fractal pattern and has many of the nutritional benefits of both vegetables. It's really good for you and you can prepare it the same way you would either vegetable: raw in salads, steamed, roasted, baked, or in casseroles.

I decided to steam mine. I washed, trimmed, and quartered the Romanesco and then cut out the thick core and stem. I gently broke apart the pretty pieces and steamed them for about 10 minutes, until fork tender. They tasted so good! It's more of a firm cauliflower texture, with a nuttier, more interesting taste (more like cauliflower but not exactly. Better, and sweeter, but not as strong as broccoli!)

I ate some of the Romanesco warm with salt. The rest, I immediately rinsed with very cold water until they were cold (to stop them from cooking further and getting mushy) and saved them in the fridge. They have a perfect texture and taste to go into a salad, cold! They remind me of the texture of those little tiny corn cobs you find in salads sometimes. Plus they are so pretty, the will be stunning in any simple dish.

One cup of Romanesco contains approximately 4 g carbs, 2 g fiber, 2 g protein, and provides 94% of the RDA of Vitamin C, all for just 20 calories. Are you ready to try this new vegetable? I think you'll like it!






via Escape from Obesity http://ift.tt/1DEL8xy