Please, no more broccoli.
The little green veggies that look like tree tops is my favorite food. I know, broccoli is my all time hands down favorite—strange isn’t it? Like the character in Forrest Gump, I like broccoli many ways: steamed, fried, breaded, stir-fried, with red sauce, with garlic, with lemon, with cheese … well, you get the picture.
This love affair apparently started in early childhood. My father’s sister loves to tell this story about me. I am sure it is exaggerated. It has to be. I was about four or so and I apparently really enjoyed breaded broccoli (recipe below). I would eat this morning, noon, and night. One day she was visiting our house and over morning coffee, mom and my aunt were discussing what to make for dinner. (Doesn’t everyone plan their dinner at breakfast?) They asked me what I wanted and I of course did not say cake or pasta or even fish sticks; no, I asked for breaded broccoli. The day got busy and when it came time to make dinner, they were running a little late. So they decided to make something else and make me the broccoli the following night. I was, according to my aunt, slightly put out about this turn of events and the following night, in true toddler fashion when asked why I was not eating my favorite dish, I said, “I wanted it last night.” Insert the pout of your choice. So even barely three feet high, I wanted my broccoli when I wanted it.
When I was single, it would not be unheard of for me to cook and eat it three or four times a week. Then married life hits. When I met the love of my life, he ate a small array of vegetables, but lucky for me broccoli one of them. He even told me he liked it and would compliment me when I made it. Fast forward two years. We were sitting at the kitchen table, talking over our day enjoying a meal of broccoli sautéed in garlic and olive oil. I noticed that he did not take as much of the vegetable as he normally does and I commented on it. He said, “You have been making it a lot and I am a little tired of it. Do you think you can not make it for a little while?”
