Broccoli

It took me a long time to appreciate broccoli after having it so often in restaurants as the ubiquitous overcooked accompaniment to meat or fish. Making a pot of soup is an excellent way to capture broccoli’s sometimes fleeting flavor. Cooking broccoli into a soup allows you to use not only the delicate florets but also the stems.

If you want to make a puree of broccoli soup with a bright green color, cook it for a very short time in boiling salted water before pureeing it in a blender or food processor. There is one problem with this method: the broccoli florets cook in about 15 seconds, while the stems take about 5 minutes. The obvious way around this is to add the stems—cut into ½-inch sections—to the water 5 minutes before adding the florets.