While both the head and stalk of broccoli are edible, the tough, crunchy texture and slightly bitter taste of the stalks cause many people to remove and discard them.
And even though these stalks could make a great addition to your compost pile, one mom on Instagram has found another way to use them: by creating a delicious broccoli and blue cheese soup.
The scoop
The recipe, shared by user Eimear Hutchinson (@eimearhutchinson), is simple and uses only a few ingredients. For this recipe, all you need is a few broccoli stalks, a block of blue cheese, an onion, as much garlic as you want, butter, one or two bouillon stock cubes, and some water.
"It couldn't be easier and you can always throw in a few bits of other (vegetables) that need using up," Hutchinson says.
To begin, Hutchinson says to fry the onion and garlic in a "generous dollop" of butter. In the meantime, bring a pot of water to boil with one to two bouillon stock cubes.
Next, chop the broccoli stalks into small cubes and add them to the boiling water, along with the fried onion, garlic, and any other leftover vegetables you wish to add to the soup.
Once all the vegetables are in the soup, Hutchinson recommends removing excess water with a ladle until it just barely covers the vegetables. Then, use a hand blender to mix the soup until the consistency is thick enough for your liking. She says if the soup turns out too thick, water can be added to thin it.
All that's left is to add the blue cheese. Once it's melted, the soup is ready to eat.
"Add a tiny touch of pepper on the top, and enjoy!" Hutchinson says before trying a spoonful herself.
How it's helping
Following a recipe like Hutchinson's that utilizes food frequently discarded is a great way to stretch your dollar. Plus, it reduces food waste.
Food waste is a huge problem because of the planet-warming methane it produces. When put in landfills, food waste is buried and loses access to oxygen — a critical component in the breakdown of food that creates compost. Without oxygen, food rots and generates methane gas as a byproduct.
In 2022, a study by Pacific Coast Food Waste Commitment found that approximately 38% of food was never sold or eaten in the United States, resulting in 88.7 tons of food waste sent to landfills.
Most of that waste comes from our own homes. According to Reuters, households contribute more food waste to landfills than anywhere else along the production chain, accounting for 48% of all food waste.
Fortunately, reducing food waste in your home is one of the easiest things you can do — and it can have a huge effect on cooling down our planet. Properly storing food and utilizing your freezer, planning your meals ahead of time, using recipes with food scraps, and composting are all perfect ways to reduce household food waste.
For more tips, check out The Cool Down's guides on keeping food fresh for longer and using leftovers.
What everyone is saying
Instagram users positively dished about Hutchinson's broccoli and blue cheese soup recipe and served up plenty of praise and ideas.
"This is brilliant… definitely saving this," commented one user on the recipe.
Another suggested another zero-waste recipe: "We chop the broccoli stalks in rings to make cheat water chestnuts in a stir fry — trust me — it works!!"
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