Broccoli
I must be vitamin deficient because I have been
craving broccoli for weeks now. Chances are no matter what your body needs
you’ll find it in one serving of broccoli, the Superhero of Nutrition.
More calcium than 4 ounces of milk! More vitamin C than a whole orange! Loaded
with fiber, iron, folic acid, vitamin A, most of the B’s, and potassium.
But wait, there’s more! According to the National Cancer Institute,
broccoli may help prevent cancer. Because of its wealth of phytochemicals,
specifically indoles and isothiocynates, broccoli may actually boost the enzymes
that help detoxify the body, working to prevent cancer, diabetes, heart disease,
osteoporosis, and high blood pressure.
Great! ‘Cause I was making cream
of broccoli soup for dinner last night, and I was going to need all the
nutritional help I could get.
With the
Superhero on my side, I felt less frightened about villainous Butter and Cream
lurking in the larder, but I knew the battle would be close. Butter attacked
first, reducing a pile of innocent chopped onion to a softened heap. The
situation was dire, and about to get worse. I threw in some flour to bolster
the weakened onion, but it was for naught: cream dove in from above, and
obliterated any semblance of health there was to be found. Just when I thought
all hope was lost, I caught a flash of green out of the corner of my eye. Is
it? It can’t be. But it is!! Yes, Broccoli has come to the rescue! It
lunged valiantly into the bubbling pot, striking at Butter and Cream with
vitamins, fiber, and folic acid. And then at last, it launched its secret
weapon. Phytochemicals swooped in for the kill, and health was restored in Soup
City.
Phew. We settled into our steaming
bowls of soup – excellent (and healthy!) food to eat on a stormy night.
Seasoned simply with salt, pepper, and one bay leaf, it was creamy and
delicious, warm and restorative. Forgive my digression, but there’s only
one good way to describe it. For many years beginning around the seventh grade,
my friends and I used the expression “totally broccoli.” It showed
our great enthusiasm for something; it was a strong affirmation, a statement of
agreement. I cannot for the life of me remember how it got started, but there
was something in the roundness of the phrase, the loose alliteration, and its
unusual pairing of words that really caught on. We said it all the time. (We
also said “cool beans,” but let’s not get off topic.) The
point is that we had broccoli soup for dinner last night and it was totally
broccoli.
Posted: Fri - September 10, 2004 at 01:27 PM