National Garden Bureau has declared 2023 the Year of the Broccoli for the gardening organization’s edible category. Cheers to that! While some people famously do not like broccoli, I for one say, “all the more for those who do.” Perhaps broccoli haters just have not had it prepared in a way that brings out its flavor. I get it. My mother used to boil broccoli until it was mush. I’ve since learned all sorts of great ways to prepare this verdant vegetable, and I’ll include one suggestion at the end.

This isn’t a post about broccoli preparations, however. It’s about types of broccoli. That’s right—there is more than one type of broccoli, and there’s so much to love about all of them.

Forms of Broccoli

We generally think of one form of broccoli, and that would be the perfectly shaped, full and tight heads or crowns of the stuff. That is a form called “heading broccoli,” because it forms heads. It also has thick and sturdy stems. The stems, if stripped of their somewhat tough outer skin, actually are quite tasty and tender. I’ve noticed that most supermarkets only sell the crowns nowadays, chopping off those stems since many people don’t eat the stems anyway. That is so unfortunate!

Another type of broccoli is broccoli raab. This form has long slender stems with small (about the size of a thumb) heads and quite a few leaves. I find this type on menus in Italian restaurants quite a bit. It can be a little bitter, but it’s delicious if you know how to work with that bitterness. Spring Rapini is one heirloom variety option.

Stem, Baby or Sprouting broccoli. I have written about this form before, but it bears repeating. This form is grown to have multiple harvests, where you’d remove the medium-sized main head and allow smaller heads with long stems to continue growing in the leaf axils. Rather than a one-and-done harvest, you’d get multiple harvests from one plant. These harvests could continue right up through a killing frost. This is way stem broccoli is an excellent choice for the home gardener. Artwork, an All-America Selections Winner, is one of your options if you’re interested in growing stem broccoli.

One Cooking Suggestion

Roasting makes everything taste great. As Chef Anne Burrell says, “Brown food tastes good!,” and roasting is the primary method of getting vegetables to be brown.

My suggestion, which I have learned from the New York Times’ cooking section, is to begin by roasting about 1.5 pounds worth of broccoli that’s been cut into long florets and tossed in 3 tablespoons of olive oil with salt and pepper. Lay that onto a baking sheet and roast in a 450F oven for 15-20 minutes. The key here is to NOT touch them once they are in the oven. Once they look good and brown (don’t wait until they are black and burned!), put them into a large bowl and add 1 tablespoon butter, 1 tablespoon red- or white-wine vinegar and 1 teaspoon mustard (either grainy or Dijon mustard). Toss until butter has melted.

I suggest trying it as is first, and then experimenting with types of vinegar and mustard and quantities of each. As for the butter, definitely keep it in the mix.