Look and Feel Younger

7 ways to look and feel younger with broccoli!

I wanted to title this: 7 Reasons to Eat Your Broccoli Or Die.

But I decided to appeal to your vanity instead. I think we value looking and feeling better more than we fear even death itself.

I’ll even risk sounding like your nagging mother because it’s that important.
“Eat your broccoli!”.

I hated broccoli when I was a kid, but then came to love it. Lucky for me too, because I recently found out it is one powerful force in the anti-aging battle. Read on to see why, then at the end I’ll share my favorite recipe so you can finally love broccoli too!

Here are 7 reasons why eating this super healthy vegetable can
improve your health and quality of life in a big, big way:

1. Phenomenal Amounts of Vitamin K – an average serving of broccoli provides 100% of our vitamin K needs.
   This vitamin improves bone health by helping our body absorb calcium and keep it in our bones. Strong bones are good. Falling and breaking them bad. Are you aware that broken hips are sometimes the cause of the fall rather than the consequence? Hip breaks then down you go! Bad.
2. Sulforaphane: a powerful phytonutrient that has demonstrated an ability to prevent or slow the progression of
   cancer in multiple studies.
3. Vitamin C – an average serving of broccoli provides 100% of our vitamin C needs. Vitamin C plays a vital role in the formation of collagen and has even been linked with wrinkle reduction. Keep your skin looking good by eating your broccoli. You’ll also help protect your first layer of defense, your skin, from cuts, tears, and subsequent infections. Additionally, this powerful antioxidant, which protects cells from free-radical damage, may reduce our risk of cancer.
4. Fiber – one cup of broccoli has 5 grams of fiber, of which 1/2 of that is soluble. Soluble fiber helps reduce your LDL (bad) cholesterol. The remaining insoluble fiber helps digestion and promotes regularity.
5. It’s Super Low in Fat
6. It’s Super Low in Cholesterol
7. It’s Super Low in Calories – only 60 calories in a cup of cooked broccoli.

Now that you know how good broccoli is for your body, let’s see how to make broccoli good for your taste buds too.

First, you have to buy good broccoli. Fresh broccoli. The stems should be stiff, not rubbery. The stem cut should look fresh, not discolored, brown or moldy. The tops should be a nice even green without yellow patches. It should feel heavy for its size. Refrigerate fresh unwashed broccoli in a loose plastic bag, then wash just before using. Use as soon as possible and definitely within a week of purchase.

Tops on my list for a good tasty broccoli is texture. If you don’t like broccoli, there’s a good chance you’ve only tried it overcooked. That’s the way most restaurants and my parents made it.

Good Chinese restaurant cooks get it right. Broccoli should not be mushy.

It should be cooked only slightly. Steamed is best. Once cooked it should resist the teeth, be a bit crunchy even. And have a nice deep green color.

The quick cooking method of stir fry dishes makes broccoli taste amazing. It gets to play off the flavors of neighboring meat and vegetables and seasonings.

Standing on its own as a side dish, here is my favorite broccoli recipe (serves 2- 4 people):

Take one large broccoli crown and cut off the individual florets. This should result in about two cups of cut broccoli.

Rinse the cut broccoli in a microwave safe bowl under cold water. Then drain off the excess water.

Cover the bowl of wet broccoli with a microwave safe plate and place in the microwave for 1 minute on high.

Carefully remove the hot steamed broccoli from the microwave.

In a skillet, heat two tablespoons of sesame oil. (Not too hot or it will smoke and burn and taste awful!)

Add in steamed broccoli, cover and shake around for 30 seconds to cover all the broccoli with oil.

Place in a serving bowl and eat them all up! So yummy! So good for you too!

Feeling bold, throw in a teaspoon of Asian fried garlic nuggets.

I may have just saved your life. You’re welcome.

If nothing else, this recipe might just change the way you feel about broccoli forever.

I hated broccoli (and many other vegetables) as a kid. Now I love them because I found that fresh vegetables, cooked properly, taste great. (sorry mom and dad, Delmonte, mushy, canned, tasteless vegetables suck! imho)

Fresh vegetables are best. Frozen a far second best. And you couldn’t bribe me with all the tea in China to buy canned vegetables.

Now eat your broccoli before it gets cold!

You’ll look and feel better because you did. You might just live a bit longer too!

Mom used the threat of a wooden spoon to persuade us when we were kids. I hope I don’t have to break out the spoon to persuade you?

“Bene Vivere!”

Bob (Elderbob) Schwarztrauber