Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Broccoli...oh Broccoli...

Hello! It's just so exciting to have time for blog update!

There are two stories about broccoli that I’d love to share with you, dear blog visitor! :)

Yup, this vegetable has created different effect on people whom I know. I suppose most of us love it, right? It surely has good taste, texture, and nutrition. However, my private teacher dislikes it, or in other words, fears it. How’s that? 

At first, everything was normal until one day; her sister bought some cheap broccoli from the market. Maybe because they were sold in a low price, they were no longer fresh. The seller then sprayed the broccolis with much pesticides and chemicals to retain the color. Attracted by the price, her sister brought them home and cooked the broccolis for her family. Poor Ms. Tan, my private teacher, and all her family members. Not long after eating that plate of broccolis, they rushed to the toilet because of food poisoning. From that on, they no longer eat this vegetable anymore.  

That is the first story about broccoli. Even though Ms. Tan had encountered such trouble, it does not affect my family’s interest in this vegetable, especially my father. He is an ultimate broccoli lover! Of course there is a reason for that. 

One day, my father went to Jakarta for business. Afterwards, he decided to have lunch in a local restaurant. There he ordered a plate of sautéed broccoli. It was simply cooked with garlic and a little cooking oil.  When the bill had finally come, he was so astonished to see the price of that plate of broccoli. It was too high! Later on, my father, who seldom goes to the market, found out that the real market price for broccoli was not even half of the price of that plate of broccoli! Moreover, my mom had ever explained to him about the goodness of this vegetable. From that on, he often buys 8 until 10 kilograms of broccolis for a week! You know, I’m almost fed up with eating the same vegetable for a whole week, hahahaha…


Well, I have some tips to help you neutralize the effect of pesticides on the vegetable :
First, cut off all heads of broccoli into pieces.
Second, prepare some water that is enough to wash the vegetable.
Third, stir in a teaspoon of salt into the water. Then, soak the broccoli in the liquid for around 15 minutes. Don’t forget to clean (rub gently) the stems to help reduce pesticides. Salt contained in the water is effective to dissolve the pesticide on the surface of vegetable.
Finally, drain them and rinse once more with clean water.

Now, you can cook without worry! :)

By the way, I’d captured a picture of a plate of this boiled vegetable served on our dining table, and this is it!


No comments:

Post a Comment