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Broccoli and beet salad. Photo courtesy
LoveBeets.com.
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“Salad” isn’t limited to leafy greens. Even in the vegetable community, there are salads aplenty made from other veggies—cabbage, carrots, green beans and potatoes, for example.
Broccoli salad deserves more attention. It’s rich in powerful, cancer-fighting antioxidants, phytonutrients and carotenoids, which are missing in any significant level in most lettuces.
So today’s tip is: Make a broccoli salad. As with lettuce, there are many different ways you can combine and dress it, incorporating the global pantry of spices and other ingredients.
This recipe, from LoveBeets.com, adds healthy, crunchy seeds. It’s a quick, easy, healthful salad; great for lunch or as an appetizer with dinner.
Prep time 5 minutes, cook time 5 minutes.
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RECIPE: BROCCOLI, BEET & TOASTED SEED SALAD WITH LEMON DRESSING
Ingredients For 4 Servings
8 ounces broccoli, stems cut in half; or substitute broccolini or broccoli rabe
½ cup mixed seeds (e.g. sunflower, pumpkin, sesame)
1 tablespoons soy sauce
9 ounces plain cooked (vacuum packed) beets, drained and cut into wedges
Small bunch fresh chives, snipped
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For Lemon Dressing
2 tablespoons olive oil or cold pressed canola oil
Juice of ½ of lemon or more, to taste
Freshly ground black pepper and sea salt, to taste
Preparation
1. MAKE dressing: Whisk together the oil and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.S
2. STEAM the broccoli for 3 to 4 minutes until just tender but with a little bite. (The more slender broccolini and rabe will take less time.) While the broccoli is cooking…
3. TOAST the seeds over medium heat in a small frying pan. Add soy sauce and cook over medium heat, tossing regularly to completely coat, for about 3 minutes until the seeds are crisp and golden. Take care not to burn them or they will taste bitter.
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Broccoli rabe (rapini) on the grill with a steak. Photo courtesy E & E Grillhouse | New York City.
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4. ARRANGE the cooked broccoli and beet wedges on a plate, drizzle the dressing over them and sprinkle with the toasted seeds and chives. Serve hot or chilled.
BROCCOLI, BROCCOLINI & BROCCOLI RABE
Broccoli is a member of the Brassica family, which includes bok choy, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, cabbage, kale, kohlrabi, mustard greens and turnips, among other veggies.
Broccolini, which has long, slender stalks and broccoli-type florettes on top, is hybrid developed in California by crossing conventional broccoli with Chinese kale.
Broccoli rabe (pronounced robb) is popular in Southern Italy (where it is called rapini and served with pasta or polenta. It looks like a very leafy broccolini but is actually a member of the turnip genus. It is more bitter than broccoli and broccolini.
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