Tag: broccoli

  • Simple vegetarian broccoli lasagne

    Simple vegetarian broccoli lasagne

    Honestly, when preparing this I forgot to add the vegetarian ‘minced meat’ and it was still delicious. Would also be great with mushrooms! Find your own, buy fresh or soak dried mushrooms from your stock.

    First, mix together ingredients for the sauce. I used tomato sauce, tomato paste, water, sambal (chili paste) and bruschetta mix (dried tomato, garlic and oregano). You might use a ready made tomato sauce (there are really good ones without additives, check the label) or make your own.

    Grease the bottom and sides of your oven dish with olive oil. Now add a first thin layer of tomato sauce at the bottom, then break small broccoli florets (no bigger than would fit a teaspoon) and distribute evenly in the sauce. Now add a layer of minced veg meat and cover with thinly sliced onion rings. Cover with a layer of sauce.

    Now take a sheet of lasagne pasta (I used whole-wheat), break it if necessary and use as much/many as you need to cover a full layer in the oven dish.

    Repeat the layering steps with a bit of sauce, broccoli, minced veg meat, onions, more sauce. Add another layer of pasta.

    Make the last layer with broccoli, onion and sauce. Top with grated cheese (I used Gouda).

    Put in the oven at 200 degrees for 40 minutes. Serve with (rocket) salad, extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper.

  • Buckwheat risotto with green vegetables and herbs

    Buckwheat risotto with green vegetables and herbs

    A new favorite: buckwheat risotto! Healthy, heartfelt, full of flavors, absolutely lovely and so easy, too!

    Serves 2-3

    Boil about 1 liter of vegetable stock. You could make your own, I use organic instant stock powder. Add a tablespoon of kurkuma to the stock if you have that available.

    In a frying pan, heat some oil and sauté a small onion (in pieces) and small garlic clove (chopped finely), then add two cups of buckwheat and a handful of dried shiitake mushrooms (in slices).

    Stir well, then add one or two cups of stock to the buckwheat. Bring to a simmer, the turn the heat down to low. Allow the stock to be soaked up before adding a new portion. Stir regularly.

    After about 20 minutes (halfway cooking time), add green beans. After another 10, add broccoli, zucchini, grated rind of 0,5-1 lemon and kale (I used frozen ‘cubes’ of kale, just put the whole cubes in there and don’t stir from then on). Cover with a lid so the vegetables can steam until ready for another 10 minutes or so.

    Meanwhile, chop lots of mint and parsley so you have two nice handfuls of herbs. Just before serving, top with the herbs, drizzle with generous amounts of extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper and possibly lemon juice.

  • Indonesian style green beans and broccoli

    Indonesian style green beans and broccoli

    The Dutch kitchen has been blessed with many foreign influences, making our palette a lot more interesting than it would have been if we’d stayed with ‘our own’ boring variations on mashed potatoes, kale and meat.

    Green beans can be a bit boring as well, but if you spice them up Indonesian style like in this recipe, I promise they will become a favorite.

    Chop one onion, a thumb sized piece of ginger and a big garlic clove. Sauté these together in a frying pan in some coconut or other vegetable oil. Cut about 400gr green beans and 200gr broccoli in bite-sized pieces. When fragrant, add the green beans. Cover the frying pan with a lid.

    Meanwhile, combine two tablespoons of peanut butter (100% peanut, with peanut chunks) with two (or more…) tablespoons of sambal: hot Indonesian pepper paste, a good drizzle of light premium soy sauce. Taste; it should be strong and spicy. Adjust by adding more of any of the ingredients. Then water it down so it will be easy to mix in with the beans.

    When the beans are almost ready, add the broccoli and close the lid again.

    Add the peanut soy mixture to the beans and broccoli, then heat so all flavors can mix well and the sauce will thicken.

    Let sit for as long as you can. 5 minutes will work perfectly well, overnight will make it taste super authentic.

    Taste before serving and finish with ketjap medja (thick, sweet soy sauce) or manis (medium thick, sweet soy sauce), sesame oil and/or toasted sesame seeds.

  • Coconut Lemongrass Ginger Curry

    Coconut Lemongrass Ginger Curry

    While healing from Bell’s Palsy (a partial face paralysis) and chronic sinusitis, I notice my body feels like eating lots if roots, bulbs and brassicaeae.

    So I threw together this dish which has many different veggies and a light yet tangy curry flavor to enjoy all the goodness of anti-inflammatory ginger, prebiotic onions and fennel, and anti-cancer broccoli, among others. I don’t mean to make any health claims here, it just feels extra good to eat this stuff these days and thought I’d share it with you.

    Best to make this dish one day before serving, the flavours balance out real nicely overnight.

    For 1 person:

    Quart 1 onion, slice a few slices of fennel, roughly chop 1 stalk of lemongrass and 1 mild red pepper, thinly slice 1 garlic clove, 1 carrot and 1 small handful of ginger.

    Lightly fry/simmer all of these (possibly together with a teaspoon of fennel seeds or aywain if at hand) in a tablespoon of coconut oil.

    Cut one large tomato in small cubes and add to the fragrant mixture in the pan.

    Also add 6-8 dried kafir lime leaves, salt, pepper, about three tablespoons of santen, a cup of water, one tablespoon of honey, a star anise and a pinch of cinnamon.

    Stir until the santen has melted into the water to form coconut milk.

    When nicely fragrant and heated through, add a handful of broccoli and cauliflower florets each. Then turn off the heat and leave the dish to rest in the closed pan. Stir sometimes. Enjoy the next day with rice. You can heat up the dish and make the sauce as thick or thin as you like.

    Enjoy!

     

     

  • Steamed broccoli & noodles + soto

    Steamed broccoli & noodles + soto

    Does this dish look dull to you? Let me tell you why i still find it exciting. One: it’s sat in a bowl that was given to me by two very dear friends that same night. Two: it’s a perfect starting point for one of the best dishes ever: soto.

    Soto
    Soto is a simple Indonesian stock which you combine in a plate with all kinds of condiments: leafy vegetables, curried vegetables, sambal (chili paste), egg, sprouts, fried onions and peanuts… It’s salad buffet meets soup bowl: super colorful and fragrant and tasty!

    Fulfilling, beautiful & easy
    So we had a great and fulfilling dinner. We sat on the floor (practicing for Thailand?) and put a spoonful of everything on our plates: noodles, broccoli, fried tofu, spicy cumin carrot julienne, potato, plus the above mentioned: egg, fried onions, etc… and then poured the stock over it.

    The result is warm, spicy, crunchy and either very light or nice and filling; everyone can just take what their tummy feels like. Ideal for a family dinner or party.

    I loved it so much, that i wondered why i don’t make this more often. It’s even also a great way to do something beautiful with leftovers (an ongoing quest in my household).

    Recipe for steamed broccoli with noodles, as a basis for soto

    For real soto, of course you make your own fresh stock. In a very quick version of soto that i love to make, i use one of those little packs of vegetable noodle soup. I know! Shameless.

    Add the seasoning to (almost) twice the amount of water that it says on the label and bring it to a boil. Steam broccoli florets in the same pan, using a steam basket or a colander or sieve. The soup shall be light (although tasty) and the broccoli cooked but still firm and bright green. Remember to catch the soup while you drain the noodles.

    Sprinkle the broccoli florets with sesame seeds, some (garlic) oil and any other seasoning that you love and serve with the noodles.

    Very nice with an egg, fried onions and a teaspoon (or more..) of sambal.