Food fads can sometimes increase the price of something with no inherent reason, it is wholly arbitrary in nature. One thing I have seen recently falling into this category is Broccoli stems.

The shop where I usually buy my fresh produce, sells broccoli stems for about R200.00 ($10.00) per kilogram. In contrast to this very expensive broccoli product, you can buy "normal broccoli" for about R30.00 ($1.60) per kilogram. In my opinion, this is a serious price hike for a product that is essentially the same. There might be some inherent reason for this incredible price difference, but I still feel it is mostly the same product, especially in taste.

In fact, I want to show you in this post how I make what I call "poor man's broccoli stems". If you cut a broccoli head in a specific manner, you can create your own broccoli stems without the need to pay almost 5 times the price.

Moreover, if you do it in this way, the surface area of the cuts makes it optimal to "burn" the broccoli to intensify the flavor. But another benefit of this method is that you get little bigger stems which makes it easier to cook them and still have them very tender. I love tender broccoli, cooking them soft does not appeal to me much. In fact, I love to eat almost raw broccoli.

So, please join me as I cook this quick broccoli recipe which you can either make as a main dish or a side dish. It is really a simple one you can make in less than 20 minutes!

Ingredients or Recipe

For this dish you will need basically four things:

• Broccoli stems (see how I cut them below),
• Garlic,
• Salted butter (or butter and salt), and
• Lemon juice.

Cutting the Broccoli into Broccoli Stems

I always buy normal broccoli heads. You then break the individual florets at the base. Try to keep the stems as long as possible. Cut these florets then in either quarters or halves. You will obviously not have the nice tender or broccoli stem shapes, but if "looks" do not worry you too much, this is the way to go! Plus, you have "flat" sides which you can then "burn" as I will show you below.

Burn the Broc

If you have a cast iron pan, get it very hot. Add some oil, not the butter yet, and get it very hot. The goal will be to burn the sides whilst you still have an essentially raw product. As noted, I love raw broccoli, so if you prefer cooked ones, cook them at a lower temperature.

Break the Garlic

Whilst the broccoli is burning, break the garlic. If you leave it for a while, they will develop "allicin" which is very healthy. It develops when you bruise the garlic.

Cut the Garlic

Now cut the garlic into smaller pieces and get some butter. If you like oily food, add more butter. If you brown the butter, this will add even more flavor.

If you are using cast iron pans, the residual heat will melt the butter and cook the garlic just a bit. Therefore, turn the heat off and add the butter, garlic, and lemon juice. Briefly cook it in this "sauce" and then you are done!

Plate, and Enjoy!

And there you have it! It is really that easy, simple, and quick. It cannot be easier.

I made this for my girlfriend @urban.scout and I did not make some for myself. That was a big mistake. I needed to make more as I tasted one or two and wanted to eat it all! I love the combination of lemon, burnt broccoli and lemon juice. Do yourself a favor and make this for you!

The writing and recipe in this post are my own. I do not think you can claim it as your own, but alas! The photographs are also my own, taken with my iPhone.