Broccoli is an incredible vegetable and one of it's best qualities is the ability to reduce inflammation. Broccoli is rich in sulforaphane, an antioxidant with potent anti-inflammatory effects. Sulforaphane reduces the body’s levels of particular proteins that drive inflammation.
You need to avoid boiling broccoli because it lowers the levels of sulforaphane. But who likes boiled broccoli anyway!? Choose other methods of preparation that do not affect the compounds, such as steaming, sautéing, stir-frying, microwaving, and, of course, enjoying it raw.
Our favourite way of preparing it is what we like to call the Broccoli Haters Favourite Salad. This salad can be eaten as a main as well as a side dish, just add sauteed meat or vegetarian (we like tofu chunks) meat replacement to the top.
The Broc Haters Best Friend - Spicy Broc Salad
Prep/Cook Time: 15 Min
Serves: 4-6 people
Ingredients:
- Two Heads Broccoli
- 1-4 Red Chillis (you can choose whatever chilli is your favourite but if you can handle spice we love Birds Eye Chillies for extra heat. An added bonus: all chilli peppers are packed with anti-inflammatory properties.)
- 1 Cup Chopped Almonds (Also high in antioxidants!)
- Chipotle Dressing (We prefer Oli & Vine Smokey Chipotle Lime & Herb Dressing you can currently find this at Woolworths Grocery Stores)
Method:
Chop the broccoli into small pieces and blanch it (put it into a bowl and pour boiling water over it, leave for a few minutes, don't leave it too long as we want to preserve as much nutrition as possible).
Add blanched broccoli to food processor (If you don't have a food processor don't stress, a knife will do the trick, it will just take a bit longer). Use the pulse feature to chop the pieces until they are no bigger than a 5 cent piece. Bite-size is best.
Meanwhile put your chopped almonds onto a medium heat pan and lightly roast them until golden brown and crunchy. Hot tip: start with pre-roasted almonds to save time.
Chop your red chilli of choice into tiny pieces.
Once the nuts are finished add all ingredients into a medium-size bowl. Mix and pour your dressing over the top and mix.
Serve and enjoy.
Tip: Don't add the nuts until you are ready to serve to keep the nuts crunchy. We like to add all the other ingredients, pop it in the fridge and then add nuts just before serving.