Help with Broccoli Rabe

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Broccolini is perhaps my favorite vegetable after tomatoes, which anyhow I claim are a fruit.  Broccolini looks somewhat like broccoli rabe but the flavor is quite different.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broccolini

 

 

Sadly I think broccoli rabe is just too bitter for my taste.  Broccolini, in contrast, is very mild, even more so than broccoli.

[heidih]

I was surprised when the weekly ads featured rapini at my local big chain grocer (Albertsons) for $1/50/bunch this week. I have only purchased from the farmers market. I checked it out and the bunches were large and vibrant. I looked at Elizabeth Schneider's Vegetables from Amaranth to Zucchini and got some background on the vegetable as raised here in California. She says the D'Arrigo brothers noticed a plant similar to something they recalled from Italy and started a breeding program in the 1930's favoring small leaves, juicy stalks and many buds. Their logo was the smiling face of one of their kids (Andy) on a pink label.  I untwirled the wire-tie and sure enough it was Andy Boy from Salinas, California!  Simmered with minimal water, salted with chicken powder (don't hate me), and finished with roasted garlic oil I made yesterday - a meal in itself with some rice. 

 

 

[huiray]

I can usually (but not always) get broccoli rabe from The Fresh Market in my area - it's so-called "organic" stuff at $4 or so a bunch, but large bunches and almost always very fresh.  California stuff, usually.  From the Farmers' Market here, when available, it will also be $4 from the grower who usually has it when he has it.