Lina, my fellow food blogger, is great at issuing cooking challenges – I thoroughly enjoyed the North Indian Curries challenge – and this month I took up her Creative Ingredient challenge…to those of us who responded to the challenge, Lina issued a vegetable for us to cook with.
Yes, I cook vegetables daily, but I thought this might encourage me to cook with a vegetable I don’t often pick..and I was right: Lina gave me broccoli (Lina also gave me cauliflower, but having previously made so many cauliflower dishes – there’s been cauliflower rice, cauliflower pizza base, cauliflower wraps, marinades, dips, so many cauliflower creations, all on my recipe index- I decided not to add more to the cauliflower arsenal! It doesn’t need any further assistance from me to get even more expensive!) I rarely choose broccoli, and when I do, I tend to prefer the stems to the tops of the ‘trees’, I think the stems hold more flavour and a better texture. That’s just my view of course 🙂
So I decided to push myself and play with the curly tree tops, which scream ‘crumb’ to me, and this is what I came up with…a crunchy zesty crumb of broccoli, nuts and spices..
To sprinkle over whatever you fancy, I sprinkled mine over this salad…it added crunch as well as flavour and colour…
The crumb
Ingredients
The florets from a medium sized bunch of broccoli
3-4 small garlic cloves
A handful of roasted unsalted hazelnuts
A handful of roasted unsalted cashews
1/2 tbsp Aleppo (pul biber) red pepper flakes
1 tbsp sumac
1/2 tbsp olive oil
Method
Place the broccoli in a glass bowl with a couple of tablespoons of water and cover with cling film; microwave on high for 6 minutes
Remove the broccoli and place in a colander to drain and cool
Once cooled, cut off the tops and keep the stems for the dip below
Place the curly tops of the broccoli in a food processor with all of the other ingredients
Blend to a crumb, don’t let it go as far as a paste
Then sprinkle over anything you can think of, like I did! Or stir it into some homous..of course! Tasty!!
Ingredients
1 x 400g tin chickpeas, drained and washed
Olive oil
Lemon juice
Roasted ground cumin
2-3 garlic cloves, crushed and chopped
Small bunch of flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped
Small bunch of fresh coriander, roughly chopped
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
Several tablespoons of cooked quinoa
Method
Starting with the chickpeas, I put the chickpeas in a pan with the olive oil, lemon juice, garlic and cumin, and brought the liquid to the boil and simmered for on a low heat
I then (after eating several lovely spoonfuls from direct the pan!) left them in the pan overnight to cool and marinate
The next day I mixed the chickpeas with the chopped herbs, tomatoes and quinoa to serve
The dip
Whilst I was playing around, I also put this dip together using the broccoli stems..
Ingredients
Steamed and roasted broccoli stems
Several roasted cloves of garlic
Tiny pinch cayenne pepper
Salt
Plain homous
Plain yoghurt
Method
I steamed the broccoli stems along with the trees for the broccolata, then roasted them with some peeled garlic cloves and a spray of olive oil
Once they’re nicely roasted, I left them to cool then blended them with some homous I’d already made, a tiny pinch of cayenne and some natural yoghurt
Of course, I did then take things a step further…I decided to bake it at a low temperature and see if I could add some more crunch to it..
I spread the mixture in a thin layer across a baking tray lined with foil and baked for 20-25 minutes at 150c, checking constantly that none of it burnt, then turned the oven off, propped open the door slightly, and left the tray in the oven to dry out further. It worked really well..
It became really crispy and crunchy and zesty…and although it looks like bits are burnt, they really aren’t, the broccoli just coloured more than the rest..
and again, tasty over my leftover salad today…
So, how’s that for something different? Possibly not what you might think of when you look at broccoli?! We know my brain works in mysterious ways….I had great fun playing with it, I hope that Lina and you like the outcome.
I did also do more with the rest of the broccoli that I bought, but I’ll save that for next time, for now I’m heading over to Fiesta Friday with my broccoli crumb and hoping that this week’s co hosts Julie, and Ashley like it 🙂
Wonderful Elaine-so nice to see you again participate! Woo-Hoo-have a great weekend! xx
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Thank you, and you xx
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xx – hugs to Bob!
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He sends licks back 🙂
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aw what a guy!!! xx
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The best 🙂
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He is awful handsome!!! xx
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He is, such a gorgeous little boy 🙂
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Yes, he is that Elaine! Wonder how Percy and Suzanne are doing ? I’ll have to email her! xx
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looks so tasty!
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Thank you 😀😀😀
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Love this Elaine! xx
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Thank you xxx
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most welcome!
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I like the way your mind works! I would have never thought to use broccoli in this manner. Just think of all the foods you could top with the crumb. I bet it would be awesome on a baked potato!
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I think so too! The possibility are endless!!! Thank you 😀😘
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I have to admit Elaine I love the tops of the trees and usually just buy crowns. I don’t pick it often to cook with because I do not like it overcooked at all. In a salad or a dip – need to try 🙂
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Enjoy experimenting!
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Ok, the FIRST PRIZE FOR VEGGIE CREATIVITY goes for Elaine of Foodbod! 😉
serious stuff here, my friend! You know what I thought about using your crumb for? as a pasta “dressing”. I remember once enjoying a super simple plate of spaghetti with breadcrumbs and grated cheese as the topping, some parsley was in there too if I remember correctly, processed with the bread crumbs
I think your broccoli “crumb”, after roasting would make an outstanding pasta topping!
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That sounds like an excellent idea! It’s like any kind of dukkah or crumbed topping idea really, you sprinkle it over a dish and add another dimension, just that this one includes broccoli! I’m really pleased with the outcome actually ☺️
Thank you so much, I do love creating 😀😀😀
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I love everything about your makeover dish. I like the tops and stems. and I would have been eating the marinated chickpeas right out of the pan!
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Oh Julie, the chickpeas were soooooo good!!! and by the next morning, the oil and lemon juice had thickened and it was all even more glorious!
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That sounds amazing! I loved all of the textures too. I can see a dollop of this mix on an endive leaf for a great summer appetizer.
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Sounds good to me! 🙂
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So creative! Lovely.
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Thank you 😀
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You are a master, Elaine! I so want to try this as we love broccoli in our house! 😀
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Thank you so much 😀😀😀😀
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Looks perfect Elaine and always introducing new ideas. Enjoy your weekend! 🙂 xx
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Thank you so much xxx I hope you’re having a great day xx
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I have never cooked with Broccoli. The only thing I can think of is salad. Thank you for sharing an awesome recipe Elaine ☺ 👍
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Thank you so much 😀😀😀
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I bought some broccoli yesterday and I am going to make all those wonderful recipes you posted. Thank you and have a great weekend.
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Yay! Thank you! I hope you like them 🙂
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So creative and healthy…what a neat idea!
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Thank you 😀😀
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You really are amazing I would have never thought to do anything like this. Looks really nice. Have a great weekend xxxx
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Thank you honey xxx I hope you are all well xx
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You clever gal you… You make so many dishes out of just one vegetable. Just amazing! So colorful, and appetizing. Love it!
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Thank you 😀😀😀
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Very creative and tasty looking! ‘Makeover’ is almost too mild a word to use. How about ‘transformation’?
I agree about the stems having a lot of flavor. I always incorporate them in my broccoli dishes.
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Thank you so much, Gerard, I’m glad you like my creation 🙂
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Such an interesting and delicious use of broccoli! Yum 😀
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Thank you 😀😀
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Elaine, this sounds just incredible! I love how nice and crispy broccoli tips get when roasted, but I rarely roast broccoli as I prefer the stems cooked in other methods because sometimes I find they get a bit dried out/stringy when roasted. I never thought of separating the two to get the best of both (broccoli part) worlds! And then a broccoli stem dip! I already knew you were the cauliflower queen, but I think you also deserve “broccoli queen” as well!
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Thank you so very much, I’m so glad you like it and I could give you some new ideas 🙂
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Haha! Your brain works in wonderful ways 😉
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I’m so glad you think so 🙂
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😘
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You always create delicious recipes, Elaine. Everything just looks really good!!!
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Thank you honey xxxx
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Looks delicious! Would love to try it 😉
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Thank you 😀😀😀
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We love broccoli in this house so I’m bookmarking this page for future reference when we’re drowning in broccoli from the garden in winter. 😉
PS Sourdough baking continues unabated. My starter is now so robust, I can forget to feed it for a while and with a bit of flour and water it just bounces right back. 🙂
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Yay! That sounds great – the broccoli and the sourdough 😀😀😀
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So much deliciousness in this post! I love broccoli, it’s one of my favourite veg so I’ve never had trouble using it in my weekly cooking… but I am always on the lookout for new ways to use it! Definitely giving that spicy, nutty broccoli crumb a go (you are so creative!) as well as the dip. Yummy!
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Thank you so much, I really hope you like my creations xx
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Das Rezept mit dem Brokkoli liest sich wunderbar und ich werde es testen. Du bist eine tolle Köchin
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Thank you very much xx
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