Tag: Broccoli flowers

It's a common sight for home gardeners: you miss the optimal harvest window, and suddenly your tight green broccoli heads loosen and burst into a spray of yellow blossoms. But instead of seeing this as a wasted crop, many chefs and home cooks know that the flowers of broccoli are edible and offer a surprisingly delicate, peppery flavor.

Botanically, the part of a carrot we eat is the root, while the part of broccoli we consume is the immature flower head. This surprising difference sheds light on the main question: do we eat the flowers of carrot or broccoli?

Over time, if left in the garden or on the shelf, broccoli's familiar tight green head will loosen and eventually burst into a spray of bright yellow flowers. This natural process, called bolting, raises the question: is it safe to eat the flower of the broccoli plant, or is it a sign of spoilage?. The good news is that these yellow blossoms are perfectly safe and edible, offering a new dimension to a familiar vegetable.