Make Kids (and Adults!) Eat Broccoli - Important Enough to be Creative with Broccoli Recipes

Broccoli is a wonderful vegetable. From the cabbage family, it decreases the risk of cancer and has high amounts of vitamin C. Originally from Italy, its a vegetable that has been around for 2000 years. Here are some simple recipes for kids and adults alike.

Beautiful Broccoli

1.   Steam some broccoli with salt . Add pepper for extra flavour.

2.   Add it to your soups

3.   Stir fry with garlic - here's the recipe. I like this the best because its easy and fast.

400 grams broccoli (stalks and florets separated)
3 cloves garlic thinly sliced or crushed
4 tablespoons of olive oil
1 red chilly (this is of course optional but it does give the extra zing)

How to prepare
Boil some salted water and add stalks for 2 minutes and florets for another 2 minutes (
Heat the oil and fry the garlic till it sizzles and browns
Add chilly
Remove from the heat
Add onto the broccoli and serve.

For parents and for children to know why it is important to give broccoli the attention it deserves!

Information on broccoli - summarised from Wikipedia. And there is loads of information on the net.

• Broccoli is high in vitamin C, as well as dietary fiber;
• Broccoli also contains multiple nutrients with potent anti-cancer properties
• The 3,3'-Diindolylmethane found in broccoli is is anti-viral, anti-bacterial and anti-cancer  
• Broccoli is  an excellent source of indole-3-carbinol, a chemical which boosts DNA repair in cells and appears to block the growth of cancer cells

 A single serving provides more than 30 mg of Vitamin C and a half-cup provides 52 mg of Vitamin C.

However, the benefits of broccoli are greatly reduced if the vegetable is boiled.

Steaming broccoli for 3–4 minutes is recommended to maximize potential anti-cancer compounds.

Boiling reduces the levels of suspected anti-carcinogenic compounds in broccoli, with losses of 20 – 30% after five minutes, 40 – 50% after ten minutes, and 77% after thirty minutes.

However, other preparation methods such as steaming, microwaving, and stir frying has no significant effect on the compounds.


Happy Teaching and Cooking!