Happy little revelation

The other night I made classic Italian style broccoli rabe, or rapini. Ie., I boiled it for about 6 minutes, shocked it with ice water, squoze it out (saving the boil water for another use), chopped it, and sauteed with lots of onion and garlic and, in lieu of chili flakes, a minced fresh jalapeno. Then, it seemed a good idea to mix all that with an egg, panko and some seasoned bread crumbs, and saute into patties, next to some ribs, beans, and cornbread as a non-traditional side. Not earth-shaking, but oh so good. I LOVE veggie patties and would welcome other ideas.

Very cool.

But, I gotta ask, what on earth are you going to do with that nasty, reserved cooking water? Use it to kill weeds or something?

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One person’s nasty water is another person’s vitamin and flavor infused base for a soup; a substitute for plain water in any savory dish’ thinner for overly thick stews or sauces or a rice or other grain cooking base. It saves the nutrients that boiled out during the cooking of the greens. I tend to use only organic ingredients if at all possible, so it doesn’t contain any nastiness, just chlorophyll, vitamin A, and flavor. (Of course, I do wash the greens before cooking them at all.)

I was trying to be silly. That water just struck me as being quite bitter.

Regardless, your frugality is impressive.

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