How to Cook broccoli 1- Clean the broccoli. If you bought your broccoli at a commercial grocery store, a thorough rinse is fine. If you grew your own broccoli or bought it at a farm stand, soak the broccoli in salted water for 10 minutes, then rinse it thoroughly. Garden-fresh broccoli is prone to cabbage loopers, a common garden pest. In their larval stage, cabbage loopers are green, approximately 1-inch-long worms. Though they're harmless, they can be a real appetite killer. The worms die in the salt water. The cabbage loopers will float to the top of the surface of the water where you can skim them off and dispose of them.
2- Trim away the trunk of the main stem. This is the thickest part of the broccoli. The stem of the broccoli is completely edible, but the last inch or so will be a bit tougher and not as tasty. You can eat the stem, or discard part of it.
3- Cut the florets. Cut the trunks of each floret, or little bunch of broccoli, until you break the florets into several smaller pieces that are easy to work with. If you're not a fan of the stalks, cut just below the crown.
4- Place a steamer basket in a saucepan. Fill a saucepan with 2 inches (5.1 cm) of water, insert a steamer basket, place a cover on the pan, and place the pan on a burner over medium heat. Bring the water to a boil.
5- Place the broccoli in the steamer basket. Remove the lid from the pan, place the broccoli florets in the steamer basket, and replace the lid on the pan.
Comments