Broccolini is a vegetable in its own right, a cross between broccoli and gai lon, or Chinese kale. Those tiny yellow flowers are a sign of the vegetable’s gai lon parentage — and the gai lon is what gives this vegetable its cool peppery flavor.
Though much more expensive than broccoli, the hybrid has little waste; the slim stems are so tender all the way down that their ends don't even need to be trimmed. In fact, it's a much more interesting and sweeter-tasting vegetable than broccoli crowns, the de-stemmed florets that are common in many markets today. Broccolini is nutritionally very similar to broccoli and is considered a tremendous source of carotenoids and other anti-inflammatory nutrients that may help decrease the odds of cancer and cardiovascular disease. It's also an amazing source of vitamins A, C and K.