Ingredients
2 heads of broccoli (approx. 500g) cut into florets
100ml olive oil
1 tbs lemon juice
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
2 red chillies, thinly sliced
1 tbs black sesame seeds
sea salt
black pepper
Method
In a large pot of boiling salted water blanch the broccoli florets for 2 minutes – best to be still quite crunchy, don’t over cook! Remove to a bowl of ice water, drain and leave to dry completely on kitchen paper.
In a large bowl toss the broccoli with about 30ml of the olive oil and liberal amounts of salt and pepper, set aside. Meanwhile place your griddle pan over a high heat until it is smoking hot. Griddle the broccoli in batches, turning to get char marks on all sides. Return to bowl and set aside.
Place the remaining oil in a pan together with the lemon juice, garlic and chillies. Cook on a low heat until the garlic begins to turn golden brown. Be careful not to let the garlic and chilli burn – they will continue cooking in the hot oil even when off heat. Less is more here!
Pour the garlic, chilli, lemon oil over the hot broccoli and toss well. Season to taste, sprinkle with black sesame seeds. Serve immediately or at room temperature.
A really easy dish, perfect as a salad or an accompaniment to a main meal. Add to some noodles for an easy mid week vegetarian dinner or simply serve with steamed sea bass, keeping it light and asian. Enjoy!
footprints in the butter 