Enjoy some Italian flavors with this broccoli rabe cooking-meditation… This year I chose to keep my new year resolutions as basic as possible: rise early, meditate and eat healthy(ish). Hoping to be persistent and thinking that I could always add up to the list 😎

Best tip? “Start easy. I’ve learned to put my lofty goals aside and start with the easy-peasy” ~Christian Allaire

1. Rising early? It’s doable.
2. Eating healthy(ish)? So far so good.
3. Being consistent with meditation?

😳 What if I’m practicing mindfulness while cooking, it’s that time of the day that offers a wonderful opportunity of being present and ponder… (or not)
While ruminating about it, I remembered of a big bag of broccoletti from my family kitchen garden, in waiting to be trimmed.

Broccoletti + meditation + recipe?

I decided to give it a try during the prepping chore… OM! It actually worked and it’s not that unusual to looking at cooking as a meditation practice.

“Cooking it’s something that one does. It’s not a consideration of an action. It’s not a thought about a result. It’s doing in the here and now” ~Greg Stegeman

Broccoli rabe are sold under a variety of names, including broccoli raab, rapini, bitter broccoli, turnip broccoli. In Italy we call it broccoli di rapa o cime di rapa (which means “turnip tops”). To ensure freshness you’ll need to go to farmers markets, or specialty stores to find it. Look for bunches with large, dark green leaves (no yellowing).

Once cooked there is something sexy about them…

Keep reading, a delicious recipe for you to try is just down below 😉

In the middle of each bunch, protected by some bitterly delicious green leaves, lays a mini bouquet of tender florets, with its mellow sweetish bite. And please don’t over cook it!

When in season here is my family favorite fast lunch recipe: Spaghetti e friarielli (spaghetti with stir fried broccoli rabe, topped with some grated ricotta salata), a cornerstone of Neapolitan cooking.

Here’s a delicious recipe with Spaghetti & Broccoletti, and… Buon Appetibilis!

Useful links:
~ Make your Italian grandmother proud by learning how to cook broccoli rabe.
~ Easing your stress by using cooking as a mindfulness practice.

ockstyle

I’m an Italian gluten-free Gourmet Traveler+ and a passionate storyteller, writing in English and Italian. Fluently speaking (eating and dreaming) in Italian, English, French, and Russian. When I’m not writing, I cook and test recipes for special diets, and photograph (also on film). Not necessarily in that order. — / — Sono una viaggiatrice buongustaia (la Gourmet Traveler+) senza glutine, appassionata narratrice di storie. Scrivo in italiano e inglese, parlo (mangio e sogno) fluentemente in italiano, inglese, francese e russo. Quando non scrivo, cucino, testo ricette dolci e salate per diete speciali, fotografo (anche in pellicola). Non necessariamente in quest’ordine.