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There was a comment in today's Food Section of our local paper. It said "Don't add broccoli to soup. It gets bitter."

I never knew that, but then again I've never put broccoli in any of my soup recipes. DH doesn't care for it and it's not one of my favorite veggies so I don't serve it at my house.

Only soup I've ever had broccoli in was broccoli cheese soup. Its not bitter there.

Broccoli is great added to soups, side dishes or salads ~ great way to add a green vegetable to our food! But I think that your local "food columnist" needs to expand his/her horizons a bit.

Yes, broccoli will be bitter if just tossed into the soup ~ it needs to be cooked first, duh...

Either, steamed or even "microwaved" (shudders) but no one with a bit of sense would toss it in raw and not expect it to taste "half-baked" - think whatever publication you have been reading needs a new culinary columnist!

I think she was a bit daft and agree with IR -- and, of course, there IS broccoli cheese soup which is ALL broccoli!

Martha

America's Test Kitchen said that if not fully cooked it could be bitter in soup.

I generally start my broccoli cheese soup by *surprise* cooking the broccoli first! I know...a revolutionary idea.

I usually steam my vegetables in the microwave and get superior results.

Here are the benefits of using the microwave according to the Harvard Medical School. (Make sure you read the last paragraph.)

"In addition to being more selective, microwave-oven energy is also more penetrating than heat that emanates from an oven or stovetop. It immediately reaches molecules about an inch or so below the surface. In contrast, regular cooking heat goes through food rather slowly, moving from the outside in.

Some nutrients break down when they’re exposed to heat, whether that heat comes from a microwave or a regular oven. Vitamin C is perhaps the clearest example. So, cooking with a microwave probably does a better job of preserving the nutrient content of foods because the cooking times are shorter."

My mom never added any cruciferous vegetable to her vegetable soups for that reason. They have strong flavors that don't play well with sweeter ones. I don't mind some chopped cabbage in mine, though.

I agree with Idaho and Linder - we're all in favor of more veggies here.

Very interesting! I had totally forgotten about all the restaurants that serve Broccoli Cheese Soup. In fact, I think I may have had it at one time or another (I love cheese soups).

And I always like to put brussels sprouts in my turkey soup . . . and I put them in raw.

In all fairness to the columnist, she was just including the comments of the person who submitted their recipe for soup.