stems

update: so i took a bit of an unplanned/unannounced break from blogging after my son was born. i had planned to write and then schedule all these fun posts to go up after he arrived, but somehow i lost my camera's memory card that had pictures to go along with those posts. bleh.

i didn't feel like going back and re-shooting everything i'd done, so i decided to give myself a little break from blogging. but i'm back!

i still haven't found my memory card though.

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today i wanted to talk about using the part of broccoli that usually gets thrown away: the stems.

we eat broccoli a lot in our house--in salads, roasted, sauteed--but it always bothered me that we were wasting the stems (stalks?).

so i found a super easy and delicious way to turn that would-be trash into a great side dish. 

there's not much to it: just peel the stems to remove the rough outer part, cut into bite-sized pieces and pan fry with a little bit of olive oil, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes if you want heat.

add a dusting of fresh parm and you're ready to eat.

these would also be tasty with a little garlic or some toasted pine nuts and a bit of lemon zest.

enjoy!