Vegetables such as broccoli are important foods for maintaining a balanced and healthy diet. How to cook broccoli right? Find out with us!
Consuming fresh and seasonal vegetables, such as broccoli, helps maintain a correct nutrient intake and prevent disease.
Nutritional values of vegetables
Vegetables are very important foods in our diet, essential to ensure the right amount of nutrients and to maintain a healthy and balanced lifestyle. In particular, broccoli is a vegetable rich in nutrients that they play an important role in the prevention of several diseases.
I broccoli are an important source of vitamins and minerals, including vitamin C, vitamin K, calcium and potassium. Furthermore, they are rich in phytochemicals such as carotenoids and flavonoids, which play an important role in health prevention of diseases such as cancer and cardiovascular disease.
Broccoli – wineandfoodtour.it
Recent studies have shown that broccoli also contains a substance called sulforafanowhich has anticancer and anti-inflammatory properties.
In addition, broccoli is also an important source of dietary fiber, which helps maintain proper bowel function reduce the risk of diseases such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
To get the most benefit from broccoli, it’s important to cook it properly. A good practice is to steam vegetables to preserve their nutrients as much as possible. Furthermore, it is important not to cook them too longas this can lead to the loss of nutrients.
How to cook broccoli: healthy cooking methods
I Broccoli is a versatile vegetable which can be cooked in different ways. Cooking affects the texture, flavor and above all the nutrients contained in vegetables.
The steaming it is one of the best ways to cook broccoli, as it allows you to preserve the nutrients and their crunchy texture as much as possible.
Steamed broccoli – wineandfoodtour.it
This method involves the use of a perforated basket which is placed over a pot of boiling water. The broccoli is placed in the basket and covered with a lid. In this way, the steam generated by the pot cooks the broccoli slowly and evenly, without reducing their nutritional content.
Conversely, other cooking methods, such as boiling, can greatly reduce the nutrient content of the vegetable.
Boiling, for example, causes the loss of water-soluble vitamins, while frying can increase the calorie content of broccoli.
Boiled broccoli with pasta – wineandfoodtour.it
However also drink the cooking water of this vegetable to recover nutrients is a mistake.
This is because the treatments to which these vegetables have been subjected, such as pesticides, can easily end up in the cooking water.
On the contrary, if the vegetables are of organic origin, this practice is possible.
The steaming on the contrary, it allows you to maintain the natural flavor of broccoli, without adding additional fat or salt. In this way, broccoli maintains its delicate flavor and nutritional properties.
It does not need to be subjected to high temperatures for a long time, in fact even in this way lose part of their property.
microwave in the kitchen – wineandfoodtour.it
And cooking method indicated for this cruciferous plant is the microwave cooking, to be done by placing the broccoli flowers in a bowl with just two tablespoons of water for 6 minutes of cooking. Finally a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, a pinch of salt and squeezed lemon.