Young broccoli

Broccolini can be more fun to cook with instead of broccoli, partly because it can be purchased in smaller amounts, and partly because it’s more tender and slightly sweeter. It is grown in the United States in California and Arizona — year round, which makes it a great vegetable for this time of year when greens surely aren’t at their peak.

Do you know what broccolini is? According to Wikipedia, “although often mistakenly identified as young broccoli, it is actually a natural hybrid of the cabbage family, a cross between broccoli and kai-lan (chinese broccoli or kale).” It's been on the market in the United States for about 12 years. The name is trademarked; two California growers produce broccolini, and one of them — SanBon Inc. — calls it Asparation, the original name given to it by the company that developed the plant: Sakata Seed of Yokohama, Japan. Europeans sometimes call it "tender stem.” The entire vegetable as sold, including the yellow flowers seen in the photograph below, may be eaten. The most common was to cook broccolini are sautéing, steaming, roasting, boiling or stir-frying. Nutritionally, it is high in vitamin C, but also contains vitamin A, calcium, folate and iron. RECIPE: Check out this recipe for Chicken Divan from The Washington Post that uses brocollini — it's perfect to bring us into spring (but too long for me to post here!)