Market Look-For’s

• Tight heads without signs of flowering
• Minimal yellowing
• Cabbage Loopers (creepy-crawlies that love broccoli) are usually mean that insecticides were not used. They make my skin crawl but also make me feel comfortable eating that broccoli raw.

Storage

• I cut the head into florets and store in a plastic bag in the fridge
• Separate the greens and the stem and store separately.
• The greens will wilt the most quickly but are also generally served wilted, so some pre-wilt is no big deal.

Notes

• Broccoli, like many brassicas, doesn’t love the heat. The best broccoli arrives in the spring and fall.
• Broccoli Rabe (or rapini) is a different plant and often more gasey and bitter than traditional head broccoli but can be prepared in the same way (though I don’t generally eat rabe raw).
• Broccolini is often the second cutting or side shoots of traditional broccoli. More and more there is broccoli being breed to produce more side shoots and this is being called broccolini too.