I used to be a lot pickier when it came to eating than I am now. I used to gag when I put mashed potatoes in my mouth and I’d reach as quickly as I could for my glass of milk to wash them down. Beets weren’t any better, but I’ve come a long way. Everything grew on my and my palate grew accustomed to the different tastes and textures and I started to look forward to dishes I once turned my nose up at.

Take broccoli, for example. It’s tough and it has a distinct flavor and what’s with the weird baubles on top of the stalk? That cannot be natural. Worst of all, it’s green. Green is something inherently feared by a lot of kids and far more adults than should it should be. Now when I look at broccoli and I see the green, I only think good.

What changed? For the broccoli, not much changed; it was still broccoli. But the way I ate it was better. Not raw nor steamed nor drenched in butter were good enough for me. Through careful study, I learned that broccoli was best when it had something on it. Often times, ranch dressing or cheese. Think about it. When was the last time you turned your nose up at ranch dressing (and don’t count the times that you said no because of it being unhealthy because, be honest, it’s pretty damned delicious). Or cheese? I’m a Wisconsin boy and if I come across someone who doesn’t like cheese, I’m dumbstruck. It’s how cows pay tribute to man. It’s flavorful. It comes in varieties. It’s blue. It’s Colby. It’s a cheddar sharp enough that you shouldn’t even consider running with it.

When I came across images of broccoli cheese patties, I knew I had to figure out how to make them. Instead of looking it up and finding a list of ingredients and proportions of things I either don’t have or my palate hasn’t adjusted to yet, I decided to throw together what I thought best to make the amazingness of good greens and Wisconsin’s pride.

I’ll be state from the beginning that my first attempt didn’t turn out quite right. I used too much oil and I didn’t add any flour. I was frying broccoli in greasy cheese and oil, and it was falling apart. Before I threw the second batch in the pan, I adjusted my recipe enough to get some golden, green, and cheesy patties that would be more than welcome on a bun, with the right dressings.

[yumprint-recipe id=’2′]