Broccoli has been a favorite since childhood. My mother would steam this green wonder, then simply squeeze some lemon juice over the top. I have fond memories of those meals; how wonderful to recapture one of them.

But life moves on and although I still enjoy broccoli prepared simply with fresh lemon, I have also discovered a whole world of broccoli dishes. As an example, at the beginning of this past winter, I made two gallons of broccoli soup, divided it into 10 to 12 ounce servings, and placed it in my chest freezer, freezing it only after I had allowed it to refrigerate overnight.

Broccoli is related to cabbage, kale, cauliflower and Brussels sprouts, is high in vitamins, fiber and minerals and fits in well as a source of your daily vegetables.

My 5-year-old granddaughter loves broccoli. So when she comes to stay for a couple of days, I blanch some broccoli for snacks. Blanching partially cooks the vegetable taking off some of the crunch. Just bring a large pot of lightly-salted water to a boil and plunge in your cleaned and cut florets. Leave in the heat for 90 seconds only, no more. Drain and immediately plunge into an ice water bath to stop the cooking and cool the broccoli. Of course, prepare the ice water bath before you place the florets in the boiling water.

After they’ve cooled, drain again and place them on paper towels to soak up the excess moisture. Drop into a Ziploc bag, and I’m ready to serve the little gremlin some healthy green snacks.

Today’s recipe is for broccoli custard. It provides a smooth mouth feel with a host of complimentary flavors. Make it this week for your family, they’ll love you for it.

Broccoli Custard

Serves 4

3/4 lb broccoli florets

3 Tbl sour cream

1 Tbl milk

1 egg

1 egg yolk

1/8 tsp ground nutmeg

½ tsp salt

A couple of grinds of black pepper

1 green onion, minced

Heat oven to 350.

Lightly butter sides of four 8-ounce ramekins. Take some parchment paper and cut out rounds to line the bottoms of the ramekins and set aside.

Steam florets until cooked through, drain. Place florets into a food processor. Beat egg with sour cream, milk, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Add to food processor and pulse 3 to 4 one second pulses, remove to bowl and blend in the green onion. Divide into the molds, smoothing the top. Bake until set, do not over bake. Garnish with chives.

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