Within days of planting the broccoli plants, tiny heads started to emerge in the center of the whirl of green leaves that looked like they were liberally coated with talcum powder, same as my face looked for my first stage performance in kindergarten. I patiently waited for the buds to grow, hoping to see it become the size of the standard store bought broccoli heads. The tiny buds on the head that were very close together started slowly separating as they grew bigger, but the size of the head seemed to not increase to my expectation.The month of May saw some exceptionally hot days and on my weekly visit to the garden, I saw yellow blooms on the broccoli head that had been green on my last visit, something I had not seen or expected. They were very pretty blooms, and I was quite sure they were not fit for consumption any more, but decided to google check anyway to confirm. To my surprise, I found that the flowers were edible too!
Small yellow flowers have a mild spiciness (mild broccoli flavor), and are delicious in salads or in a stir-fry or steamer. http://whatscookingamerica.net/EdibleFlowers/EdibleFlowersMain.htm
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| Pick broccoli........as you like it |
I would have loved to make a pretty looking salad with the blooms, some greens and cherry tomatoes, like I saw in http://foodblogga.blogspot.com/2008/04/mizuna-and-broccoli-flower-salad-plasma.html, but
since the taste of the florets did not particularly appeal to my palate, I chose not to use it in a salad and kept it in a vase instead and decided to make sure I pick the broccoli heads while the buds are still tight together if I wanted to eat it.
The verdict: Eligible young or old, depending on what you're in the mood for!
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