Broccoli with roast tomatoes and feta

INTRODUCTION

I hope no one was holding their breath! I’ve been adjusting….slowly….seeking inspiration wherever I can find it – ie. watching endless movies with Charlie and Jess, meditating, sleeping, eating, phoning, crying, denying ..and my learned self doubt/helplessness is attempting to succeed by telling me to lie down and not bother. But then I realised or rather reminded myself that I love to share, I’ve always enjoyed helping people get better results with their baking/cooking which sometimes is as simple as a new ratio of ingredients, so….while we forage through our pantry in an attempt to not leave the house for at least another week and come up with some ideas that might just help one person…I will take comfort that we are in this together, value your feedback and thought that I would be guided by you as to how I can help…..and I’m confident it will be symbiotic !

So, today’s recipe ….simple and delicious broccoli and or green beans with or without feta and slow roast tomatoes. Besides the incredible health benefits to eating broccoli, it’s delicious, easy to prepare and not at all expensive. The sprouting broccoli is widely available at the moment and is ever so slightly more elegant, but as long as it’s fresh, either will be delicious !

The main idea for this recipe is to show you how to blanch, refresh and store the broccoli and or beans ….in plenty of boiling water, for 2-3 mins and then straight into a ice bath to 1) immediately stop the cooking process and 2) retain the gorgeous green colour and crispness of the vegetable.

In prepping for a big function we will always blanch the vegetables the day before, allowing the brocoli or beans to sit overnight in a sealed container with either kitchen paper or a clean tea towel on the bottom to catch all the water which allows you to season effortlessly as their is no water to stop the oil sticking to the veg. If time doesn’t allow you to do this, simple ensure you’ve removed as much water as possible before dressing your salad.

INGREDIENTS 

• 600g broccoli
• 1 punnet of cherry tomatoes – sliced ( the redder the better) or semi dried tomatoes ( Ina Paarmans are delicious)
• 2 Tbls lovely olive oil
• 1 garlic clove crushed, to a mushy paste
• Salt and pepper
• 80g feta, I prefer the creaminess of Danish, but either works

METHOD 

Trim off the leaves from the sprouting broccoli. If you are using regular broccoli the stems are thick, cut them into two or four length-ways, so you are left with long, thin stems that are similar in proportion to the french beans if using
Bring a medium pot of unsalted water to a boil. Blanch the beans for 3 mins, until just tender but still crunchy. Use a slotted spoon to lift out the beans, run them under plenty of cold water to refresh, then dry in a tea towel. Once all the vegetables are cooked and dry, mix them in a bowl with the oil.

Toss the tomatoes together with the beans, season with the mushed garlic, salt and pepper

serve at room temperature ….enjoy !