Tell Tenderstem® what you think of their recipes and add your own - £250 voucher prize draw NOW CLOSED

[MichelleMumsnet]

The team at Tenderstem® have asked us to find out what Mumsnetters think of their latest collection of family-friendly, time-saving recipes.

In case you don't know it (yet) Tenderstem® is a long-stemmed broccoli – and tender from floret to stem so the whole vegetable can be eaten.

Here's what the team at Tenderstem® have to say, "Tenderstem® is a wonder vegetable for family cooking as, not only is it ready to eat after just 3 minutes of steaming, it is packed full of nutrients and leaves no costly waste behind making it one of the most versatile vegetables around."

They go on to say, "we know from first-hand experience how challenging it can be to keep the whole family happy and healthy when we're all so busy, which is what has inspired us to create our latest collection of recipes. With prepare-ahead dishes, to those mild in flavour, and adaptable to please a range of tastes and all quick and simple to prepare, Tenderstem® has it covered!"

They also have teamed up with family food expert and author Fiona Faulkner to give you these top ten tips to save time and money in the kitchen.

Please have a look through Tenderstem®'s specially designed Facebook album for Mumsnetters here, you could even 'like' your favourite recipe . Then come back to this thread and let us know what you think.

They'd also love to know whether you already cook with Tenderstem®, or whether it has yet to make it into your fridge. If you have cooked with it before, tell us what you loved about it! Feel free to share any other recipes from your repertoire which use Tenderstem®. Or any tips you have on how to prepare it/ use it in established recipes.

Everyone who joins in with the discussion on this thread will be entered into a prize draw to win a £250 voucher for House of Fraser.

Thanks and good luck,

MNHQ

[dahville]

I like the recipes, there are a good range of different things but I don't believe the prep and cooking times, to be honest. I am sure that most of the recipes will take longer than advertised. The recipes aren't complicated and I can see places to get kids involved in making some of them, e.g. dressing the pizza.

We do use tenderstem but generally just steamed as a side dish, especially with salmon fish packets (salmon fillet in aluminium foil with a touch of olive oil, butter, lemon juice and lemon slice, and a sprinkle of mixed herbs or pepper, bake at 200 for 20 minutes). We like it because it is more delicate than the big heads of broccoli.

[JustBecauseICan]

I bloody love tenderstem and would have it all the time if I could.

My recipe:

Pasta and tenderstem with mushrooms.

Fry some button mushrooms in butter with chopped garlic and a bit of chili. Remember to add a bit of salt so the mushroom juices come out. Just before it starts to "dry" slug a bit of white wine in to make a kind of buttery winey stock.

Cook short pasta and about 4 minutes before it will be done chuck the tenderstem in the pasta water.

Drain the pasta and broccoli saving a ladlefull of the cooking water. Mix that with the mushroom mixture and swizz round so it's all coated in a light "sauce". A teaspoon of pesto makes it even better if you've got a jar open. If not, it doesn't matter.

[cornflakegirl]

We really like tenderstem and have it sometimes, but it's just so much more expensive than standard broccoli. And I save the stalks of normal broccoli to make soup, which just enhances the cost difference.

We don't tend to cook with tenderstem, just have it as a side vegetable. DH sometimes forgets to plan the veg to go with a meal, and doesn't always think about timings, so because it's so quick to prep and cook he finds it really easy to do.

[MadMonkeys]

I like the look of the recipes. I don't buy tenderstem, although I agree it is yummy, because it is so expensive. Some years I grow my own and it is so cheap to grow, why does it cost so much in the shops? It would be great as a first weaning food as it is easy for little hands to hold and babies all seem to like broccoli.

[sharond101]

The indonesian chicken looks lovely. we like tenderstem and our favourite is simply cooking pasta and pesto with tenderstem stirred through.

[Lilpickle08]

We use tenderstem quite a bit - largely in stir fries with chicken. I love those recipes though, I'd not really thought of using tenderstem with the kids (doh!) but they love their veg so will defo try some of them.

My daughter has just grown out of her egg allergy and we've been told to introduce egg slowly - the fritata looks perfect so that's going to be first on my list to cook!

[lorka]

The recipes look great - especially the Indonesian braised Chicken in sweet Soy Sauce with Tenderstem® Coconut Rice. Will need to try some of them out. I love Tenderstem but the children tend to only eat the top and not the actual stem so maybe some of the recipes will change their mind!! :)

[cornflakegirl]

Having looked at the recipes a bit more though - what's with all the references to recipes for "Busy mums" and "hungry dads home from work". Have they researched the target audience on here at all?

[ouryve]

The recipes look really nice, but a bit faffy. I like my greens naked, as it were, so I can dip them in whatever I have on my plate. I'm actually having Tenderstem Broccoli for dinner, tonight, on the side with an M&S chinese. Absolutely delicious dipped in the sweet and sour sauce! I treat it a bit like asparagus (and think that good tenderstem broccoli is as nice as good asparagus) and often dip it in mayo (eating with fingers is often a must!) I've even been known to have it with soft boiled eggs, for my lunch :o

[Cherrygrape]

Potato ham and cheddar frittata looks good. Some of the others do too :)
I have never heard of tenderstem before - it sounds really good :)

[PSG1968]

Being a Keen cook that is on a budget I thought the recipes were good i.e. the frittata I found the recipes in general interesting & packed with flavour.
I often do as a midweek treat for the family a Warm Salad of Tenderstem Broccoli and Chickpeas served with White Fish healthy & flavoursome
Heat oil in a non-stick wok, sauté cumin seeds and garlic to translucent, and add red chilli and broccoli and cook for 1 minute. Add chickpeas, onion and red pepper.
cook for 30 seconds and remove from heat and add lime juice and then season with salt and pepper. Stir in the coriander and serve :)

[hannonle]

I have to say that I am another one who just likes broccoli in general as a plain vegetable. I've never bought tenderstem because I imagine it is expensive for what you get, although I've not really checked out the price.
Most of the time I buy regular broccoli from a local grocer and we also grow our own sprouting broccoli which we eat when it is in season. We mostly pick it fairly small (bad soil so it doesn't grow as big as tenderstem) and eat it with cheese sauce.

Otherwise I would just use tenderstem in the same way as regular broccoli - as a side, or in a broccoli/chicken(or salmon)/pasta/white sauce meal.

[MissPlumBroughtALadder]

Is Tenderstem genetically modified?

[BIWI]

All that stuff about 'busy mums' is so fucking patronising

[swallowedAfly]

so sprouting broccoli then? what's with the bloody copyright and acting like you invented a vegetable that was actually your poor man's version of broccoli till recently and incredibly easy to grow?

i love sprouting broccoli. possible favourite thing is to fry butter and garlic in a large frying pan, add some steamed sprouting broccoli and little clumps of mackerel then pour over beaten eggs and cook. absolutely lush combo for some reason.

utterly baffled by someone copywriting a veg - as someone else asked is it GM?

[BornToFolk]

There are no vegetarian recipes on Facebook, which is a bit odd, what with broccoli being a vegetable and all...
However, the recipes on the website look good. I also like the idea of putting Tenderstem on pizza. I am a big fan of broccoli on pizza but I've never tried Tenderstem.

[rootypig]

The recipes all look delicious. The marketing REALLY gets my back up. Being brutal, the kind of middle class audience that's going to be persuaded to buy tenderstem broccoli isn't going to respond well to mummy stays at home and daddy goes to work bollocks. It's like a bloody Iceland campaign. Can't stand those either.

Recipe wise - I love broccoli stir fried with about ten cloves of sliced garlic (don't go out for a few days afterwards ). Steam the broccoli a bit first, drain, then toss for a couple of minutes in hot oil with garlic, a good bit of soy and toasted sesame seeds to finish. Really good with salmon or tuna.

My mum always used to make broccoli and broad bean gratin, which I love. Steam the broccoli, leaving it with a bit of crunch. Partially cook frozen broad beans. Drain both, put in an oven proof dish, pour over cheese sauce, top with breadcrumbs and grill for ten minutes.

Hungry now!

[littlemonkeychops]

I do like tenderstem as it's tasty. I've never really thought of "cooking"it until now, we just have it a quick and easy side dish, not often as it is expensive.

I like the recipes, the soy sauce one looks lovely.

[breatheslowly]

The fritatta looks good, but it would be much cheaper with normal broccoli and almost certainly as nice.

[ladygoingGaga]

Am I missing something here

This is broccoli, all they have done is branded it so they can justify the higher price.
I also find the ad campaign annoying, and the recipes are not exactly earth shattering! Broccoli on pizza and in pies, hardly revolutionary.

[Cies]

I'll definitely be making some of these recipes, they look just up my street. In fact, the salmon and pasta jobbie is going on the menu this week.

[nextphase]

You mean sprouting broccoli? Yes, I love it, especially if its purple sprouting broccoli. DS1 loves broccoli leaves as well, so thinks sprouting is fab.

Not sure about the timings of the recipes! And the site is horrible to use, so I probably won't be going back. I'd use normal broccoli for most of them, and eat the sprouting lightly boiled, Its too lovely to mess about with.

[nemno]

I love Tenderstem and have it loads.

The recipes look good but really I mostly want it just steamed or just possibly stir fried with garlic and either oyster sauce or soy sauce.

[StillNoFuckingEyeDeer]

We've had tenderstem broccoli before, but only when it's on offer and I'm feeling lazy. We eat a lot of 'normal' broccoli. Generally I just cook it as a plain vegetable accompaniment, or include it in stir fried vegetables. I just chop up most of the stem very thinly. Tenderstem isn't really an economical choice for us.

I like the idea of putting broccoli on pizza. We live pizza and hadn't thought of that.
I've also never put broccoli in a fish pie - I tend to stick to spinach or peas. I'm going to give it a go next time though.

Some nice recipe ideas, but I don't see much that would make me use tenderstem instead of the normal broccoli to be honest.