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Anne from Life in Mud Spattered Boots had said my purple sprouted broccoli would wilt quickly, so I have been using it every chance I get.

My favorite part is the color!

It has a different flavor than regular broccoli, a bit sharper.  The stems are longer, with smaller heads.

To prep, I rinsed the broccoli, tore off the larger leaves lower on the stems and cut off the bottom of the stems.  Because these do have longer stems with small broccoli florets along the stem, I had quite a bit of stem that I used in both dishes I have tried so far.

First, I faked a version of pad thai.  Then I made omelets filled with the purple sprouting broccoli and a variety of leftovers scattered in the fridge.  Both were fabulous!  (Gotta enjoy the successes when they happen.)  🙂

First the faked pad thai.  Generally working from a recipe in Thai Cuisine At Its Best, by  local author Josie Wannarachue.   I took a number of liberties, so I am going to call this:

Thai Style Chicken and Noodles

• 1/2 package rice noodles

Soak the rice noodles in warm water for one hour.

• 3 T. vegetable oil
  

  I have a problem with not letting meat sit still long enough to get a nice sear. I made a conscious effort not to do that this time.

• 1 T. minced garlic
• 1 c. chicken, thinly sliced

Heat oil in large skillet over high heat, then brown the garlic.  Add the chicken and cook until done.  Lower the skillet temperature to medium-high.  Drain the rice noodles and add the noodles to the skillet, cooking until the noodles are soft.

• 3 T. sugar
• 3 T. lime juice
• 1 T. paprika
• 2 T. fish sauce
• 2 T. dark soy sauce
• 2 eggs beaten

Add the sugar, lime, paprika, fish sauce, soy sauce and eggs, cooking for one minute.

• 3 c. purple sprouted broccoli, chopped into 1″ pieces
• 2 green onions, cut into ½” pieces
• 3 T. chopped walnuts
• lime wedges

Add the purple sprouted broccoli to the skillet and combine.  I covered the pan and allowed the mixture to cook until the broccoli was crisp-tender.  Add the green onions and the nuts.

When combined, serve with lime wedges.

And it stayed Purple! 🙂

There are never bean sprouts at my grocery store, so I don’t include those in my pad thai.  Actually, ever since there was an e-coli outbreak related to alfalfa sprouts when I was in college (a long, long time ago), I have not been a big fan of sprouts of any kind.  Funny how you hold onto weird stuff like that.

There were no left overs.  🙂

Ham & Veggie Omelets

My second purple sprouting broccoli dish was an omelet for Saturday brunch.  The kids were gone, so I could upscale breakfast a little bit.  This was also a meal where I took the opportunity to use up a lot of small bits of leftovers in the fridge.  I apologize in advance for the streaming narrative on this recipe, but it was a mass of random acts based on what I kept finding in the fridge.  🙂

I knew I wanted to use this new veggie in omelets, but I hadn’t decided which direction to go with them.  Did I want to do something frenchy, with a creamy sauce and shallots?  Looking around, I had some french bread, and crostini on the side would be a nice complement.  What would I use to top the crostini?

Then I noticed a small container that had about 1/2 cup of mixed leftover beans (and stuff) – it had started as ranch baked beans left over from one night, a little left over chili from another night, and some black beans I don’t remember when we had ’em, but all together they were good.  I had used them as dip for quesadillas during lunch one day last week.  Anyhow, I decided that was what I would put on the crostini, TA DA,  we had a southwest theme!

Having decided on a flavor theme, rooting around in the fridge turned up leftover grilled bell pepper and onions, and leftover maple bourbon smoke ham.  SWEET!

First, I chopped the purple sprouted broccoli into about 1 inch chunks and stir fried that in a pan with some olive oil and the left over ham (cubed) and grilled peppers and onions.  When the broccoli was fork tender, but not soft, I set that aside.

Mixing eggs and milk, I started the first omelet in a cast iron pan already coated with 1 T. of melted butter. (That is why my eggs didn’t stick in the cast iron pan – not so healthy after all, in spite of all the veggies). After the egg set, I added the broccoli mixture and added some shredded mexican blend cheese before folding the omelet.  Putting the lid on the pan to let the filling fully melt and cook, I turned my attention to the crostini.

I turned on the broiler in my oven, sliced the french bread into half inch slices and buttered both sides.  I toasted the first side on the top shelf for 1 minute (I have also learned to set a timer, because I DO burn things under the broiler!).  When I flipped the toast, I added the beans and broiled for another minute.  They were perfect!

Again, my broccoli was still purple.  We felt like we had the best breakfast in town AND I used up the remainder of 4 different leftover containers.  It was the perfect start to my weekend!  🙂