Dan Pashman, host of The Sporkful food podcast, talks about how to turn around broccoli’s lackluster reputation.

Even though George H. W. Bush maligned broccoli, many people, including Pashman and Leonard Lopate, have always liked it. It can be steamed, roasted, eaten raw, or used in a sandwich or on pizza.

"Things that I think make broccoli so exciting are, first, it’s textural contrast. Most vegetable are going to be one consistency, however you cook them,” said Pashman. “Broccoli, by virtue of its stems and florets, can achieve two different consistencies in the same dish.”

Pashman referred to chef Tyler Kord’s cookbook Broccoli as a good source for unusual recipes, like the broccoli sub, pickled broccoli stems, and roast beef with broccoli marmalade.

“The greatest thing about broccoli is that the florets are absorbent,” Pashman said, which makes broccoli especially delicious with butter or roasted with a sauce. He likes to roast it with a sweet Indonesian sauce.

Leonard Lopate shared his own simple recipe for steamed broccoli: Cut up broccoli, mostly florets, but some stems are also good to include. Put it in a bowl, add a little water, some salt and pepper, a little butter, cover it, and microwave it for 2-3 minutes.

Watch chef Tyler Kord prepare a broccoli sub.

Watch Dan Pashman show Matt Lauer the right way to eat pizza and chicken wings on the Today Show