Warm Broccoli Salad

Flavoursome, colourful and warming. This salad is my absolute go-to, it is always a winner with guests! As my culinary skills have developed and I have moved through my food loving journey, I have come to realise that (for me) garlic, ginger, lime and coriander take dishes to the next level for flavour. Spices, citrus and herbs not only boast beautiful fragrant flavours but they bring so many other attributes to the table, such as various phytonutrients (plant compounds that have protective antioxidant qualities).

This dish is vegan and contains protein (chickpeas and nuts), high fibre carbohydrates (chickpeas, nuts, veggies) and antioxidant, anti-inflammatory properties (ginger, garlic, lime, chilli, greens). Broccoli contains a phytonutrients called sulforphanes that protects the body against toxins and disease (cut the broccoli 30-60 minutes before you cook it and sit it out to allow the air to activate the enzyme to promote these). It is also rich in Vitamin C, K, Co-Enzyme Q10 and although it is widely used, it is absolutely a ‘superfood’.

Let’s get to the recipe…

20 minutes - 4 people
Ingredients

• 2 heads of broccoli, roughly chopped

• 4 large handfuls of kale or spinach, trimmed and roughly chopped

• 3 cloves garlic, finely diced

• 2 inch piece of fresh grated ginger

• 1 green chilli

• 2 tablespoons olive oil

• 1 lime

• 1 large bunch coriander, chopped roughly

• 2 handfuls of almonds, roughly chopped

• 1 tin of chickpeas, drained

• 1 tbsp harissa paste (or any kind of spicy sauce)

• sea salt and pepper to taste

Method

Place frying pan on medium-high heat and add some olive oil and the chickpeas and start to warm them through. Add harissa and coat chickpeas in it. Let the chickpeas light fry and get a little crunchy - this should take around 10 minutes (keep tossing the pan).

In a separate saucepan, sauté broccoli with olive oil over a medium heat, making sure to toss the pan occasionally and allow the broccoli to cook through.

After 3-4 minutes, add garlic, ginger and chilli and cook these through for 1 minutes before adding the kale/spinach and toss until just wilted.

In the chickpea pan, make some space and place the almonds in to lightly toast them - watch so that they don’t burn.

Squeeze lime juice over the broccoli and toss through the coriander. Season to taste and add a generous amount of black pepper.

Serve in bowls sprinkled with chickpeas and almonds.

What you need to know about wild garlic

If you’re using your time outside wisely, you may have come across some wild garlic. See the photo below to know exactly what it looks like. If you break off a leaf and smell it... you’ll know that you’ve got the right stuff!

The benefits of garlic are huge, it is antibacterial, antibiotic and has antiviral properties. At this point in time, it’s more important than ever to keep the health of your immune system on point. Garlic is great for the respiratory system because of a compound in it called allicin. The only way it can leave the body is through the mouth (hence the sulphur smell) and on its way, it picks up any viruses, expelling them from the body. Magic.

So if you fancy going foraging... keep an eye out for wild garlic. When you do - break off a couple of bunches from the stems, leaving the roots in the ground so that they grow again next year.

The best and easiest thing you can do with wild garlic is to create it into pesto (I then put this with pasta + salads) so here is the quick recipe I used on Monday.

Ingredients
2 bunches wild garlic
3 handfuls spinach
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 lemon
Handful pine nuts/walnuts/pumpkin seeds
Salt + pepper
(you could also add Parmesan but leave it out to keep it vegetarian)

Method
• Wash your wild garlic... there are plenty of wild animals walking around and doing their business in those areas so it’s essential they get a good rinse.
• Place all ingredients into a blender (I use a nutri-bullet) and whizz. Taste and if necessary, add more lemon or seasoning. Done.

You can add pesto to a LOT of things - pasta, salads, pizza, greens, salmon/chicken.

Enjoy xx