Trivia
Broccoli is really a very large flower top, picked before it blooms.
Broccoli was cultivated in Italy, in ancient Roman times, from wild cabbage.
Broccoli was first introduced to the United States by Italian immigrants but did not become widely known until the 1920s.
Diana Herrington, chief cook at Real Food for Life, doesn’t like broccoli. (Which explains why I chose to write this piece.) She knows it is good for many people and considers it a powerfood.
Broccoli’s “sister vegetable,” cauliflower, is also a mild anti-allergic. It encourages the production of antibodies and is thought to help protect against allergies, asthma, migraines and depression.
Just 1/2 cup per day or two 2-cup servings per week has been shown to be enough to get some cancer prevention benefits.
Broccoli sprouts have also recently become popular as a result of research uncovering their high concentration of the anti-cancer phytonutrient sulforaphane.
The United States is the 3rd largest broccoli producer in the world (after China and India) and grows over 1 million tons.
Romanesco broccoli, which has the beautiful flowers pictured below, is really in the cauliflower species. Its shape, like many forms within nature, approximates a natural fractal. Each bud is composed of a series of smaller buds, all arranged in yet another logarithmic spiral arranged with what is called the golden ratio.
Read more: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/love-it-or-hate-it-broccoli-is-good-for-you.html#ixzz38eYFF6qm