Can you eat the leaves from the broccoli plants?

[wildeyed]

I am looking at my broccolis, which are doing fabulously well, and in addition to some tasty looking florets, they have big green leaves that look edible. Can you harvest and cook those too, or are they too bitter?

[Gormy Cuss]

1. The little leaves are edible and sweet. The large ones may be okay

but they're probably tough. I'd strip out the center stem and braise them like collards.


here's one of many sites claiming they're edible
http://www.localharvest.org/broccoli.jsp

[wildeyed]

2. I was thinking they might be like big kale or swiss chard.

A little tough and bitter raw, but good cooked. I will give it a go and see. Worst case, I don't like them.

[ThomWV]

3. Maybe shredded (thin slice) in a salad, but not cooked

I think that if you were to try and cook them they'd come out more like cabbage than anything else. Hard to say though. I personally like to slice the stalk into thin cross sections and steam them. Steamed is how we usually eat broccoli so I just toss the thicker stalk sections in first and follow with the florets a minute or two later. After that its just a little salt and butter away from heaven - dam near as good as lima beans if you ask me; heresy to say it, I know.

[brer cat]

4. I have always heard that the leaves contain more nutrients

and fiber. We always eat the small leaves in salads and include with steamed stalks and heads. The larger greens we mix with turnip greens and/or collards.

[Quantess]

5. Yes! I believe it's called broccoli rabe.

Chock full of nutrients.