Ask Professor Produce

Dear Professor Produce: So out of curiosity, what is Professor Produce's favorite vegetable?

Oh the bounty! The tastebud-thrilling, health-promoting, life-improving bounty that is peak growing season in Minnesota. There are so many delicious things to eat this time of year it is difficult to pick a favorite, but I do have one. I have two, actually, and the thing is, they're both fabulous no matter what you do to them. Fabulous I said! Faaaabulous, even. If you think fabulous is a word that only pertains to shoes and hairdos, then you are in for a surprise because guess what—my number one vegetable, Gardens of Eagan's broccoli, is Faaaabulous!

Have you tried this broccoli? It isn't what you think—if you're thinking bitter, sulfurous, tough and with a biting aftertaste that says "here comes the heartburn" think again. I know people think that about broccoli, and how? Because I confess that once upon a time, I did. And then I had a child—a child who even as a one year old clamped his mouth shut against every spoonful that wasn't orange, white, yellow or beige. I began madly trying him on every mashed up green thing I could puree and spoon up, except broccoli. I figured if he wouldn't eat peas he wouldn't eat that! But I was wrong. I have never been happier to be so wrong! The moral of the story is that we have eaten broccoli at least five times a week ever since. I'm the kind of parent who when I find something that works, I don't mess with it. We go with it.

Having proven that I am as qualified as any person could possibly be to talk knowledgeably about the Ingestion of Broccoli, I will explain why, when Gardens of Eagan (GOE), in Farmington, MN, starts up its broccoli harvest I start eating broccoli SEVEN days a week! This broccoli is so fine, it doesn't need anything except cooking; not a covering of cheese sauce, not a tablespoon of sesame oil, barely even salt or pepper (though I enjoy all these and more on it from time to time). It is so green and fresh and vibrant that when I see it in the display I have to look extra close, because if you aren't careful, you'd swear those little stalks of broccoli were so happy and alive they were dancing! In fact, I think they do dance when we close the store at night, but unfortunately I have not been able to verify this information with videotape. This broccoli is best described as, pay attention here, Buttery and Sweet! I said, buttery and sweet, and I AM talking about Broccoli here. Just to make sure we are all aware of how totally fabulous this concept is.

Now, usually when we're talking about things both buttery and sweet we are not also talking about super nutritional powerhouse foods that boost your immunity, improve your digestion and help to fight cancer. I mean, a chocolate croissant is buttery and sweet but, try as I might to find this study (and believe me, you don't think Google can get tired of searching but honey, it does) I have never found a nutritional expert who says we should eat more of them. Sigh. But buttery and sweet GOE broccoli is among the healthiest vegetables you can eat—it is one of the best vegetable sources of vitamin C and has lots of vitamin A, B and K. It's high in fiber and has a decent mineral content, too. You can eat just about as much broccoli as you want to, and still come out on top. I have turned so many people in my extended family and friends onto this broccoli that now when I have company over, I have to make something ridiculous like two POUNDS of it, steamed. You'd think I invented the stuff, actually, the way people ask for it when they come over for dinner.

Unlike some off-season, California broccoli, GOE broccoli is pretty much entirely edible, from stem to floret. There is a tough outer layer on the stem, but it is fresh and so easy to peel off it is as if it is some kind of a weird Minnesota-grown banana. Broccoli stem is often discarded but it is, for those of us who love the plant, truly the best part. It's tender, sweet and crisp; you can eat it raw with or without salt or grate it up like cabbage and make broccoli slaw with it. Delicious! Like I said, we just steam the whole thing at our house, and there's never leftovers.

Last but not least, I want you to know that I am not just some freaky person who loves broccoli with all my heart and you can't relate to me—actually other people have gone on record calling this broccoli "buttery and sweet," too. Once this 70 year old man came into the store and told me, "I loved that broccoli so much—I'm seventy years old and I've never had broccoli like that before. It's buttery and sweet." My jaw hit the floor and I said, "I couldn't have said it better myself." Which leads me to this final request: if you try this broccoli and you don't think it's buttery and sweet, or you do and you just want someone to exclaim with over the discovery of how delicious green vegetables can be, you can email me at professorproduce@wedge.coop, and we'll do the email equivalent of holding hands and jumping up and down saying "I can't believe how good it is, can you believe how good it is? I know! I know!" Or the mellower but still friendly, "Honey about that broccoli? You're right, it's faaaabulous!" Then maybe we can just give in and call it not only the Professor's favorite vegetable, but truly the Wedge's Greatest Vegetable of All Time. Because frankly, that is exactly what it is.

My other favorite vegetable? I did say I have two. It's Napa Cabbage, but, alas, that is a love note for another day...

If you have a question or comment for the professor, please email professorproduce@wedge.coop.