In season now are these beautiful vegetables which are actually the flowering portion of the plant.  For most vegetables we eat the fruits or the leaves but with Broccoli, Cauliflower, and Brussels Sprouts we eat the flower heads.  These vegetables need to grow during cooler months so fall and early spring are the best time to find them.  Easy to cook by a simple steaming and a squeeze of lemon or, if you prefer, drenched with a melted cheese sauce, Broccoli & Cauliflower are very nutritious and complement almost any meat or seafood. 

There are new types of broccoli family members available now such as Broccolini and Broccoli Raab which are absolutely wonderful and have great flavors.  Broccolini is milder and faster to cook than broccoli.  Raab, which is much stronger and leafier, is used in Asian stir fries and Italian pasta dishes.

Cauliflower is much milder and sweeter having been blanched to keep the sun from touching the flower head.  This prevents the photosynthesis that gives the bolder taste to broccoli.  Cauliflower also has slightly tighter heads and less branching.  Most recipes recommend a light cooking of Cauliflower just until the heads are fork tender. You can also just quickly blanch the florets and they are perfect for a quick dip or a a crunchy snack.

Here are a couple of my favorite recipes for broccoli and cauliflower.

Broccoli Crab Bisque

• 2 tsp. butter or oil
• 3 c. broth (fish, chicken, or vegetable)
• 1 lb. broccoli, stems peeled & sliced, florets reserved
• 4 medium potatoes, peeled and diced, divided
• 1 ½ c. diced carrots, divided
• ¼ c. chopped celery
• ½ tsp. freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
• 1 tsp. lemon juice
• ¼ tsp. thyme leaves
• 1 bay leaf
• ¼ tsp. salt and a dash of cayenne pepper, if desired
• 2 c. milk or 1 cup Half & Half for a thicker, richer broth
• 8 oz. crab meat

In a large saucepan, sauté the onion in the butter or oil until it is soft. Add the broth, broccoli stems, half the potatoes, half the carrots, celery, pepper, lemon juice, thyme, bay leaf, salt, and cayenne. Bring the soup to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer the soup for about 15 minutes or until the vegetables are tender.

Remove the bay leaf, and puree the vegetables and broth in a blender or food processor. Return the puree to the pot. Add the remaining potatoes and carrots, and cook the soup over a low heat for about 10 minutes. When the potatoes and carrots are nearly soft, add the broccoli florets to the pot, and cook the soup for another 5 to 10 minutes or until the broccoli is tender crisp. Add the milk and the crab meat, and heat the bisque but do not boil it. Serve the bisque with croutons or good crusty bread.

Pasta with Broccoli Raab

• 1 pound Broccoli Raab chopped
• Kosher salt
• 1/2 pound orechiette pasta
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• Pinch dried red pepper flakes, or to taste
• Freshly ground pepper and salt
• 2 anchovy filets in oil, drained and finely chopped, if desired

Bring a pot of water to boil and add the pasta. While the pasta cooks, in a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, just until the garlic begins to color. (Take care not to let it burn or the dish will taste bitter.) Add the anchovies, pressing them so they "melt" into the oil. Add the pepper flakes.

When the pasta is almost done, 10 to 12 minutes, add the broccoli raab to the skillet and cook with the garlic mixture for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove skillet from the heat. Drain the pasta and add to the broccoli raab mixture; toss well. Season to taste with pepper and salt. Serve immediately.

Creamy Cauliflower with Green Onions

• 1 small head cauliflower
• 1 bunch green onions
• 4 T unsalted butter
• 3 T all-purpose flour
• 1 ½ cups hot chicken stock
• ¼ tsp nutmeg
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2/3 cup grated Jarlsberg or white cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350.

Cut or break the cauliflower into florets. Cook in 3 quarts boiling water until just tender.  Rinse under cold running water and drain well.  Set aside.

Melt the 4 Tablespoons of butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat.  Stir in the flour.  Cook, stirring constantly, 2 minutes.  Whisk in the hot stock and cook until thick.  Add the nutmeg and other seasonings to taste.

Place half the cauliflower in a well-buttered 2-quart soufflé dish or casserole. Add half of the green onions. Spoon half of the sauce over the cauliflower and green onions, sprinkle with half of the cheese.  Repeat the layer of cauliflower, green onions, sauce, and cheese.  Bake in the oven until bubbly, about 20 minutes.  Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

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A little lemon added to your food goes a long way. Lemons are anti-microbial, helping to rid your food of unfriendly bacteria. They help you to digest your meal and also add a little extra flavor. Next time you are eating fish or Mexican food in a restaurant, pick up that lemon wedge garnish and squeeze it! 

At home squeeze fresh lemon into salad dressings, sauces and add it to your rice or soup just before eating it. Cook thinly sliced pieces of lemon with fish and then you can eat the lemon with the fish. If you make bone marrow soups, adding lemon helps to pull the calcium and minerals out of the bones into the broth. Traditionally bone marrow broths are eaten as an overall vitality tonic partially because of all the minerals you get from the bones.

Lemons contain most vitamins and minerals and have high amounts of vitamins A, B and C. In fact, lemons are loaded with vitamin C and were used by British sailors to prevent scurvy. It is always helpful to have extra vitamin C during the cold and flu season. Vitamin C also helps the body to deal with the damaging effects of stress. Squeeze away!

Lemon tea is a very simple remedy that can help relieve a nagging headache. Warm lemon tea first thing in the morning can help to get your bowels moving. We drink lemon tea in the evening if we have been around sick people or if we feel a little run down. If my husband feels a tickle in the back of his throat he reaches for a cup of lemon tea. Don’t drink fresh lemon juice every day though because it can adversely affect your teeth enamel.

Making fresh lemonade is not just for summer, we make herbal lemonade for any party or gathering that happens here. I am giving you a yummy herbal lemonade recipe that we make for our Winter Solstice sing-along where we join in the ancient tradition of singing back the light on the longest night of the year.

Herbal Lemonade

• 2 cups herbal tea (lavender, lemon verbena, rosemary and rose geranium are good choices)
• 1 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice

Add honey to taste (different lemon varieties need different amounts of honey).

Lemon Tea

• 1 cup warm water
• 2 tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice

Drink warm.

Bone Marrow Broth

• 8 cups water
• 3 chicken legs (whole legs including the thigh
• Juice from one lemon
• 3 cloves garlic

Cut the chicken leg bones in half so that the bone marrow is exposed. Put everything into the water and simmer on low for four to six hours. Then strain the meat and bones from the broth and discard everything that was cooking in the broth. You now have a highly medicinal broth that builds your immune system and replenishes your minerals. This is the best food for when you are sick or recovering from an illness. Drink a couple cups of warmed broth a day or use it as your stock for making soup.

Lemon Cough Syrup 

• 1 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
• ½ cup water
• ½ cup honey
• 2 crushed garlic cloves
• 1 teaspoon grated ginger

Mix ingredients together and store in refrigerator. Shake well before taking one tablespoon up to four times a day for the onset of cold symptoms. Stores in the fridge for about one week. Discard after that.

About the Gardener

Farm Fresh To You presents the Herb Garden by Kami McBride.  Farm Fresh To You provides delivery of organic, seasonal fruits, vegetables and greens right to your door. Every week the Farm Fresh to You family farm, Capay Organic, puts together a box of seasonal fruits, vegetables, and greens and delivers the box directly to your home. 

Spinach, probably the most talked about vegetable in recent months, is one of the most nutritious leafy greens and it is so versatile and tasty, I just felt it should be this month's choice.  With the e. coli scare, spinach has gotten a bad rap lately and needs to be redeemed.  The problems were not with the spinach itself but in the farming practices in that particular area.  The best solution for spinach is to find a local farmers market which should have beautiful bunches in stock right now, grown locally and very fresh.

High in iron, but not as high as Popeye would make us think, and high in calcium content make it a vegetable that we definitely want to eat more of in our diets.  It is very popular in salads which are lightly wilted by the warm dressing added just before serving or mixed with crisp lettuce greens and other crunchy vegetables in a tossed salad.  My favorite way to eat spinach is in lasagna with béchamel sauce and light ricotta cheese or chopped into a frittata with eggs and herbs. 

Spinach has so much flavor that adding herbs is usually not needed but a nice herb creamy vinaigrette would be fantastic drizzled over the top of torn leaves. 

Here is my favorite spinach salad recipe and a Sautéed Spinach that is a great way to enjoy spinach season!

Wilted Spinach Salad

• Fresh Spinach leaves, well washed and stems removed
• Slice or two of thickly sliced smoked bacon or pancetta
• 1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
  
• 1/2 bunch of Chives, chopped coarsely
• 3-4 tbsp Red Wine vinegar
• 1/2 tsp sugar or to taste
• freshly ground pepper and salt to taste
• hard boiled egg slices, if desired

Sautéed Spinach with Garlic & Lemon

• 1 large bunch spinach leaves, cleaned well
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• salt & freshly ground pepper
• juice of 1/2 lemon

Rinse greens in a large bowl of cold water. Drain and cut off any tough stems. In a skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat.

Add the garlic and cook, stirring, 30 seconds. Add half of the spinach and cook, stirring for about 1 minute, until it begins to soften. Add the remaining spinach and cook, stirring occasionally for about 10 minutes until tender.

Season with salt, pepper, lemon juice, and a few drops of hot pepper sauce, if desired.

About the Gardener

The Tasteful Garden

Cranberries contain high amounts of antioxidants that help protect against heart disease and cancer. Cranberries are one of the fruits with the highest known anti-oxidant content. Anti-oxidant foods have been shown to protect the body against cardiovascular disease. More Americans die of heart disease than anything else. Think of your cranberries as food for the heart.

Anybody that suffers from Urinary tract infections or cystitis knows that cranberries are their ally. Cranberries also reduce other infections by blocking different bacteria from sticking in other areas of the body as well.  Bacteria in the urinary tract, stomach and mouth have been shown to be inhibited by the presence of cranberries. They are also a general tonic to the kidneys and urinary tract. Cranberry tea is also a good remedy for mild nausea.

If for some odd reason you don’t eat your cranberries fresh or would like to save them for tea to drink through the winter, they store well frozen. Just put them in a zip lock freezer bag or a mason jar in the freezer. They last for about 8 months this way.

Cranberry Tea

• 1 cup water
• 1 cup crushed cranberries

Bring water and cranberries to a boil; turn off the heat and let sit for one half hour. Add honey to sweeten and enjoy this health enhancing beverage. Add 1 cup of lemonade to make this into a holiday beverage or just enjoy the tea and its antibacterial properties as a general tonic promoting winter wellness.

Cranberry Jalapeno dip

• 4 cups fresh finely chopped cranberries
• ¾ cup finely chopped cilantro
• ½ cup agave nectar or other sugar source of choice
• ¼ cup minced green onions
• 3 tablespoons lime juice
• 2-3 tablespoons finely minced jalapeno peppers
• 2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger root
• 1/8 teaspoon sea salt

Mix everything together, let it sit for several hours before serving. Pour over a block of cream cheese and serve with crackers

This is an unusual favorite that you will find at our table every year during the holidays

About the Gardener

Farm Fresh To You presents the Herb Garden by Kami McBride.  Farm Fresh To You provides delivery of organic, seasonal fruits, vegetables and greens right to your door. Every week the Farm Fresh to You family farm, Capay Organic, puts together a box of seasonal fruits, vegetables, and greens and delivers the box directly to your home.