Broccoli Rabe and Breaded Veal Scallopini

We recently moved to old downtown Mountain View and it really feels like heaven. Beautiful and quiet tree-lined streets, century-old houses, inviting vegetable gardens and deliciously fragrant flowers in the front yards, countless parks and playgrounds, shops, restaurants... and of course the weekly farmers market, which I was surprised to read is the fourth largest in California. We walk to it almost every Sunday. What a treat!

One farmer at the very end of the market (I forget their name...) sells the best french string beans we've ever had. They are thin, firm, with a bright green color that attest their freshness. We simply steam them and eat them with a little bit of butter melted on top. This farmer also sells what they label as "Italian broccoli" but is actually broccoli rabe. When my father visited last summer he immediately recognized these greens. They are not common in France, but his Italian grand mother would prepare them when he was a child. My father didn't remember how she would cook them so we made a few trials and here is what we came up with. They were the perfect side dish for our breaded veal scalopini (also a heritage from our Italian descents).