Broccolini or Broccoli is in abundance during the winter months and it is important to have some quick and easy meals or sides dishes to mix things up and let the vegetable shine. Roasted lemon has a mild, caramelized flavour and makes a delicious dressing to any salad or roast vegetables. This dish makes the perfect side of winter greens with a fresh, zingy flavour.
Roasted Broccolini with Lemon and Garlic Yoghurt Dressing
Fresh, vibrant, and delicious, this wintery Broccolini dish is a must-try. Lemons and Broccoli are ready and in-season at the same time and they also make a great pair on the plate.
Ingredients
2 Tbsp Coconut Yoghurt (or greek yoghurt)
1 Clove Garlic
1/2 tsp Lemon Zest
1 or 2 lemons
1 Bunch Broccolini
1 Fennel (optional)
1 sprig of Fennel Frond
1 Tbsp Flaked Almonds
Pinch of Sea Salt Flakes
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
Instructions
Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celcius. Wash and chop Fennel into quarters and place in a roasting dish. Cut the lemon in half and place face down. Drizzle with oil and ensure it is under the lemon and fennel so they do not stick. Place in the oven for 10minutes.
Prepare the dressing by adding the yoghurt to a small mixing bowl and finely grating in the garlic. Add a pinch of salt and 1/2 tsp of finely grated lemon zest. Mix to combine.
Remove the lemons and fennel from the oven and add in your Broccolini. Mix to coat with oil or juices from the pan. Return to the oven for a further 10minutes or until the Broccolini is bright green and slightly browning. You want it to still have some crunch to it and not be too well done.
Remove and add to a serving dish. Squeeze a little of the roasted lemon over the broccolini and leave the rest in the bowl to serve. Spoon over the yoghurt dressing. Top with almonds, red chilli, fennel fronds and a pinch of seas salt flakes.
Garnish with edible flowers (i used purple rosemary flowers)
This Stirfry Broccoli dish is super quick and easy to make and packed full of flavour! A great side dish to serve with any rice or noodle meal, or just to spice up your weekly dinners. The contrasting Red chilli really makes this dish sing! I keep my chillies whole in the freezer to pull and use in meals throughout the year.
This stir fry sauce is one of my favourites and can be used with many other dishes. Just double the recipe to use for a full stir fry meal.
Stirfry Broccoli with Tamari, Chilli and Garlic
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 5 minutes
Additional Time: 2 minutes
Total Time: 12 minutes
A super quick and easy Broccoli side dish to serve that is packed full of flavour. Use Broccoli, Broccolini or a mix of both.
Ingredients
1 Tbsp Tamari (soy sauce)
1 Tbsp hot water
1 tsp Honey
1 tsp Lemon juice
1 Red Chilli
1 Garlic Clove
1cm cubed fresh Ginger
1 tsp Olive oil
1 Broccoli or Bunch of Broccolini
10 Almonds
1 Tbsp of Pepita seeds
Instructions
Add Tamari, Water, Honey, Lemon and Oil into a small mixing bowl. Using a fine grater, grate in ginger and garlic. Slice the red chilli and add half to the mix. Stir until honey is combined.
Roughly chop almonds into 2-3 pieces into a small frying pan. Toast for 1 minute and add the Pepita seeds until the seeds are slightly golden and remove from the heat.
Slice the Broccoli into pieces including the stem. Add to a frying pan on medium-high heat with a splash of oil.
Toss and add the dressing. Cook until the broccoli is bright green and still has a bit of crunch to it.
Place Broccoli onto a serving bowl or dish and add drizzle any extra sauce from the pan.
Top with toasted nuts and the rest of the red chilli. Season with a pinch of salt flakes and garnish with edible flowers (i used dried cornflowers)
Raw Broccoli Salad is so quick and easy to make and tastes absolutely delicious. Fresh, crunchy, zingy and creamy with pops of sweet and sour. It is so vibrant and full of flavour! This salad would be perfectly paired with your favourite grilled or roasted protein. A new favourite salad to take to gatherings and shared dinners.
It is great to incorporate raw vegetables into your diet as many vitamins can be lost during the cooking process. Broccoli is a great source of fibre and protein. Plus it contains iron, potassium, calcium, selenium, and magnesium as well as the vitamins A, C, E, K, and B vitamins including folic acid. Vitamins A and C are not heat tolerant, so they will decrease during the cooking process.
Raw Broccoli Salad
Yield: Serves 4-6
Ingredients
2 medium Broccoli heads
1 small Shallot
3-4 baby Broccoli leaves or other *garden greens
1/4 cup chopped Cranberries
1 tbsp dried Goji Berries
1/2 cup chopped Parsley
2 small Fennel Fronds
1 Tbsp Slivered Almonds
1 small Lemon
2 medium garlic cloves
1/2 Avocado
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1/4 tsp chilli flakes
2 Tbsp Coconut Yoghurt
2 Tbsp Water
Salt flakes to season
Fennel flowers and baby nasturtium leaves to garnish
Instructions
Rinse your Broccoli and chop it into small pieces. Chop the dried end of the stem (compost) and then finely dice up the stem. Add to a large serving bowl.
Drizzle on the olive oil and squeeze 1/4 of the lemon over the Broccoli. Toss to coat.
Finely slice your shallot (mandoline makes this easy!) add this on top of the Broccoli.
Slice up the baby leaves and parsley and add to the salad bowl. Squeeze over another 1/4 slice of lemon juice.
Sprinkle over the chopped Cranberries, Goji berries and slivered Almonds.
Scatter small pieces of the fennel fronds, fennel flowers, and baby nasturtiums to garnish.
Mix up the dressing in a bowl by mashing the avocado, adding 1 tsp lemon juice, minced or finely chopped garlic, finely grate in the rind of 1/2 lemon, water, coconut yoghurt and a pinch of salt. Taste and season as desired.
Drizzle over the salad and sprinkle the chilli flakes on top along with a pinch of sea salt flakes.
Notes
* baby greens can be spinach, young Broccoli or Cauliflower leaves, or similar.
Feel free to adjust to similar items you have available. All my recipes I like to incorporate what I have in my garden at the time so it is nice to be a little flexible.
Broccoli (Brassica oleracea) is a hearty winter vegetable that provides large yields of nutritious food that can be used in so many ways! Growing your own Broccoli at home means you will have nutrient-rich veggies but you will also get access to all the extra parts of the plant such as the leaves and the stem that are both edible and delicious. Broccoli is easy to grow and can be grown in containers or garden beds. They are heavy feeders and can be susceptible to bugs such as caterpillars, slugs, and snails
Fertilise fortnightly with organic seaweed solutions.
PESTS
Watch out for slugs, snails, aphids and caterpillars.
HARVEST
8- 12 weeks. Harvest before the head starts separating.
REPRODUCE
Seed pods appear after the head goes to flower.
Broccoli Varieties
De Cicco – Traditional Italian Broccoli. Harvest the central head first to promote vigorous side shoots for up to 6 months.
Waltham – A popular Farmers’ Market variety forms large heads. High yields. Very cold tolerant. Great all purpose variety. Pick side shoots for up to 3 months.
Green Sprouting Broccoli – An Italian variety, the blue-green head is followed by `broccolini type’ side shoots that can be harvested for up to 3 months. Harvest main head 9 weeks.
Purple Sprouting Broccoli – Green stalks with small to medium-sized purple heads that are ideal for stir-frying or steaming. Purple colour is reduced when cooked. The plant continues producing small heads after each pick. Very nutritious.
Romanesco – Large pale green heads with an attractive spiralling pattern that grow to 20cm. Very tender and excellent flavour. Does best in cooler weather. This variety is often eaten raw and is very attractive in salads but can also be cooked with only a small loss of flavour.
Kailaan – Long succulent stems topped with compact broccoli heads that open to white flowers. All parts, even the leaves, are good eating. The taste is sweet to start, then the mustard flavor comes through. Excellent steamed, in stir-fries and laksas. Can be planted close together as its upright narrow habit grows well en masse. Harvest the whole plant. Heat tolerant. Fast-growing.
How to Grow Broccoli
Broccoli likes cool temperatures and a full sun location. Broccoli is a heavy feeder so much sure your soil is topped up with compost and try to plant your Broccoli in a different area of the garden each year to help the soil replenish the nutrients. Broccoli grows best in rich, moist soil with a soil pH between 6.0 and 7. Broccoli can grow quite large with big leaves so plant your seedlings about 40- 50cm apart in compost-rich soil, water in your seedlings directly after planting. Add a layer of mulch to keep the soil protected and moisture in. Depending on the variety Broccoli will be ready to harvest in 2-3 months.
When to Plant Broccoli
Broccoli is a cool weather plant so you typically want to be harvesting your Broccoli during winter. However, in some climates it can be grown all year round. The key is to have the broccoli floreats ready during cooler temperatures so that they dont bolt and go straight to flower. There are many varieties available and some that can tolerate warmer weather. Sow your seeds in the last few months of Summer or during Autumn so that your Broccoli plants are ready to harvest over winter.
Care/ Maintenance
Keep the plants well-watered on warm days. Water the plant at the base to avoid excess water pooling in the leaves and causing rot. For an extra boost you can feed your plants with a liquid seaweed solution every 2-3 weeks.
Pests / Disease
Broccoli is a prime target for white butterflies and caterpillars. Check your plants regularly by lifting the leaves and checking for caterpillars or larvae and remove. A barrier of crushed eggshells or a small container of beer can help keep the slugs and snails away especially while the plants are young and delicate. Plant a few extras throughout your garden and you will be sure to have more than enough Broccoli to eat! Click here for more natural pest management to help keep the pests at bay.
How/ When to Harvest
Depending on the variety Broccoli will be ready to harvest in 50-80days. The Broccoli head should have tightly packed buds and not have started going to flower. Once the little buds start going to flower you will want to harvest ASAP as the flowers will be quite bitter in flavour. To harvest your Broccoli cut the stem on a slight angle using a sharp knife. This will allow more broccoli heads to sprout off the main trunk over the next few weeks and you will get extra Broccoli! The angled cut will allow water to drain off so the main stem so it won’t rot. You can also harvest the younger leaves and use them in cooking as extra greens. Once you have harvested the side sprouts you can remove the plant and use up the rest of the stem and leaves.
Reproducing / Saving Seeds
Broccoli seeds can be saved after letting one of the Broccoli florets go to flower and seed. Yellow flowers will appear and then after that, seed pods will form. Once they have dried off you can harvest all the seed pods. The Broccoli seeds can be removed from the dried pods and stored to replant the following season. Save the seeds in a cool, dry, dark space.
Cooking and Using Broccoli
Broccoli is such a hearty vegetable and can provide nutritious and filling meals. Broccoli can be used in so many ways such as raw in a salad, roasted, grilled, steamed, stirfried, and added to any curry or soup. Broccoli is a great source of fibre and protein. Plus it contains iron, potassium, calcium, selenium and magnesium as well as the vitamins A, C, E, K and B vitamins including folic acid.
Preserving the Harvest
Broccoli can be frozen to add to soups and stocks. To prepare the Broccoli, rinse and remove the stalks. The stalks will take longer to cook so I like to freeze them separately. Blanch the Broccoli in boiling water for 40seconds – 1minute then add to a bowl of iced water. Cut the stalks into slices or cubes and blanch for 2 minutes and then add to the ice water until completely cool. Shake off the excess water and add to freezer bags or ziplock bags. Try to remove as much of the air from the bags as possible to reduce freezer burn. Keep frozen and use within 6 months. The stems can also be pickled and stored in the refrigerator.
Satay Rainbow Rolls are healthy, delicious and so easy to make! Once you master the rolls you can mix and match ingredients with what is fresh and growing in your garden. Plus, feel free to swap the halloumi for your favourite protein. These Rainbow Rolls are made using Rainbow Chard but you could also use large Beetroot leaves, Cauliflower leaves, Broccoli leaves, Spinach or even Cabbage leaves. It is important to have flexible recipes that you can make using what you have available in your garden and these rainbow rolls are definitely a versatile option for your Garden to Plate meals.
Satay Rainbow Rolls
Prep Time: 35 minutes
Cook Time: 2 minutes
Total Time: 37 minutes
Ingredients
3 Large Rainbow Chard leaves
1 Carrot
1 cup finely chopped Red Cabbage
1 /4 of a Red Capsicum
4 Lettuce leaves
1/2 Avocado
6 Strips of Haloumi (swap for Tofu or Chicken)
Small lemon wedge
2 TBS Peanut Butter
1 tsp Tamari (or soy sauce)
1 tsp hot water
1 tsp brown sugar
Instructions
Mix peanut butter, tamari, water, and sugar in a small bowl until fully combined.
Rinse Haloumi well in water, dry off and place on a plate to coat in a tsp of the Satay Sauce. Keep the remaining sauce for the rolls.
Finely slice your cabbage. Peel and cut your carrots into fine sticks. Slice capsicum, avocado, lettuce, and any other fillings you want into small strips. Squeeze a little lemon onto the avocado to stop it from going brown.
Rinse your Rainbow chard and remove the stems (keep these in a small jar of water and add to any other meal over the next day). Carefully slice off the back ridge of the stem so that it is thinner (see example image below).
In a small pan lightly fry your halloumi until it is slightly golden. About 1minute on each side. Set aside to cool while you prepare the leaf wraps.
Place a large pan of water to simmer. The pan needs to be big enough to fit your leaves. A wok or a wide frypan works best. Place a dish of water with a few ice cubes beside the stovetop to transfer the leaves to after they have blanched. Add your leaves one at a time to the simmering water for 40secounds and then transfer to the iced water. This will soften the leaves and keep them a vibrant green colour.
Once they have cooled place them on a tea towel and carefully dry off the excess water.
Lay the leaves flat with the top facing down. Add your filling to the widest part near the base of the leaves. Ensure there is about an inch of the empty leaf down the sides. Spoon on some sauce above the filling.
Start rolling the leave from the base and then fold the left side in. Do a half roll again and add the right side. Carefully keep rolling and tucking the sides in as best you can. The bigger the leaf and the more room you have, the easier this will be. At the end, you may need to dab some water on the tip of the leaf to allow it to stick.
