Deal With Healthy Meal - Broccoli

Broccoli is a vegetable plant comes from cabbage family, its large flower head is used as a vegetable. The word broccoli is an Italian word and its plural is Broccolo, refers to "the flowering top of a cabbage". Broccoli is usually boiled or steamed, but may be eaten raw and fried.

Kinds 

Di Cicco Broccoli 
An heirloom seed that dates back to the 1890s, Di Cicco comes to us from Italy. Belonging to the second class of broccoli, this emerald green variety produces side shoots all season long and heads of between 3 to 5 inches wide. 

Organic Purple Peacock Broccoli 
A multipurpose broccoli, eat its leaves in a salad or steamed and save the florets for cooking. The organic Purple Peacock broccoli keeps growing until the first hard frost. 

Green Sprouting Calabrese Broccoli 
Familiar to most tables and grocery stores, the Green Sprouting Calabrese broccoli is frost tolerant. A hybrid, organic versions are available. In cooler environments, this broccoli plant lasts often up to six months and continues producing side shoots.

Broccoli Planting

• For best results, plant 60-day broccoli in early spring or fall. Broccoli and all cruciferous vegetables don't tolerate heat well and may skip flowering and go straight to seed in hotter climates. In the California agricultural industry, broccoli is typically grown along agricultural basins near the coast, as California's central valley is too hot for this cool weather vegetable.

Nutrition You Can Gain

• Phyto-nutrient (Such as thiocyanates, indoles, sulforaphae, isothiocyanates)
• Vitamins C, K and A
• Potassium 
• Protein 
• Omega 3 fatty acids
• Vitamin B-3, B-5 & B-6 
• Folate
• Dietary fiber
• Riboflavin
• Phosphorus

It also contains iron, calcium, thiamin, niacin, zinc and vitamin E.

 Health Benefits

• Good for muscular growth as it contains high amount of potassium & fiber which also helps maintain healthy nervous system.
• It aids digestive system, prevents constipation, maintains low blood sugar, and curbs overeating.
• It contains glucoraphanin which is helpful in repairing skin damage due to UV rays & helps the skin to detoxify and repair itself. 
• High amount of magnesium and calcium helps to control blood pressure. 
• Vitamin A helps prevent age-related macular degeneration and cataracts, as well as possesses anti-cancer effects.
• The B6 and folate in broccoli also reduce the risk of atherosclerosis, heart attack, and stroke.

How To Cook?
 Broccoli can be cooked in various ways as with other grains, meat & veggies.

Chicken Tender Broccoli

Broccoli Salad

 

Broccoli Cheese Casserole

 Veggie Chicken Broccoli

Broccoli Soup

 Broccoli Rice

Good To Eat
Broccoli has a wide range of nutrients and health benefits. It reduces inflammation, protects your stomach from bacteria, lowers cholesterol, detoxifies your system, and even improves the health of your eyes and skin. This is one food that you will want to include in your diet at least several times per week.