Broccoli rabe with garlic

by Earthwalker | Jul 19, 2011 | Columns, Elana's Gluten-Free Pantry, Featured | 0 comments

photo provided courtesy of elanaspantry.com

I confess, I have an addiction to broccoli rabe. I love the bitter flavor of this delicious green vegetable. I have always believed that bitter is such an important, yet under rated flavor in our culture.

I think a lot of people drink coffee for the bitter flavor that we all need so badly. My Ayurvedic teachers used to say, “bitter is better for pitta.” Pitta is the fire element and bitter is quite good for not only cleansing the liver, it is also wonderful for cooling the body during the hot time of year.

When I need a fix of bitter and I don’t have any broccoli rabe on hand, I turn to my favorite herbal coffee substitute –a nice little brew of dandelion and chicory root.

In any event, here’s a yummy little broccoli rabe recipe for y’all right now!

ingredients
1 bunch broccoli rabe, trim off tough stems on bottom
2 tablespoons olive oil
10 garlic cloves
¼ teaspoon celtic sea salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper

directions

Heat oil in a large skillet
Add garlic to skillet and cook over medium heat until lightly browned, a few minutes
Add broccoli rabe to skillet, and cook until wilted
Sprinkle with salt and pepper
Transfer to a bowl and serve

I planted a little row of broccoli rabe in our front yard and got a decent harvest from it in June. It bolted though and now I have replanted another crop, and hopefully I will get more. Another wonderfully bitter green is dandelion, though I don’t like it as much as I do my broccoli rabe.

What is your favorite green and how do you like to prepare it?

What is your favorite flavor? In Ayurveda we were taught that there are 6 flavors –bitter, sweet, sour, salty, pungent and astringent. It’s odd living in a culture that places so much emphasis on sweet and salty, when there are 4 other important flavors.

recipe courtesy elanaspantry.com

Author

Earthwalker

Earthwalker is the username that PT founder Julie Genser created for her online interactions so many years ago when first creating Planet Thrive.

Julie's (Earthwalker's) life was derailed over twenty years ago when she had a very large organic mercury exposure after she naively used a mouth thermometer to measure the temperature of just-boiled milk while making her very first pizza at home. The mercury instantly expanded into a gas form and exploded out the back of the thermometer right into her face. Unaware that mercury was the third most neurotoxic element on Earth, Julie had no idea she had just received a very high dose of a poisonous substance.

A series of subsequent toxic exposures over the next few years -- to smoke from two fires (including 9/11), toxic mold, lyme disease, and chemical injuries -- caused catastrophic damage to her health. While figuring out how to survive day-to-day, and often minute-to-minute, she created Planet Thrive to help others avoid some of the misdiagnoses and struggles she had experienced.

She has clawed her way over many health mountains to get to where she is today. She is excited to bring the latest iteration of Planet Thrive to the chronic illness community.

In 2019, Julie published her very first cookbook e-book called Low Lectin Lunches (+ Dinners, Too!) after discovering how a low lectin, gluten free diet was helping manage her chronic fascia/muscle pain.
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