VOTM - Broccoli

VOTM generated some interest with the man and son which I have found somewhat amusing as they usually don't have much involvement in my blog (other than eating and providing the odd bit of feedback). After I finished last month's cauliflower post, they both made separate requests for my vegetable of focus for the following month. I went with the man's choice this time as he selected broccoli and given that my last two VOTM posts were from the cruciferous family I decided to keep rolling with it. 

We have increased our consumption of broccoli, cauliflower and brussel sprouts this winter and one of the reasons is due to our dear dog Jasper. When he was diagnosed with bone cancer earlier this year and we made the difficult decision to have the cancer removed (which meant a leg amputation), I spent a lot of time researching an anti-cancer diet for dogs. We were aware that after the removal of his bone cancer, there was a potential risk of a secondary cancer forming. 

Did someone say broccoli? Mmm...

Jasper deserved to have the best possible chance of leading a long and happy three legged life after going through such a big operation so his diet had to change. One thing that was common in my research was that cruciferous vegetables are most suitable for a dog's anatomy (therefore easier for them to digest) and their cancer fighting properties are beneficial to dogs as they are to humans. Broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, cabbage and asian greens have since become a component of Jasper's nightly meal solely for this reason. Jasper is showing no other signs of cancer five months after the operation (and we hope it continues this way) although I'll never really know whether the change in his diet has assisted in any way.

Broccoli is a vegetable that has been a part of our meals for many years although more recently I have been putting it to more interesting uses than just serving it steamed on the side. Vegan Yum Yum's broccoli dhal and broccoli/mushroom bake are a couples of recipes that were enjoyed in the past and more recently bistro broccoli chowder and 40 cloves chickpeas and broccoli  from Appetite for Reduction. Spinach was pushed aside to make way for broccoli in my latest version of home-made cannelloni and broccoli burgers were a great find thanks to the posts from Johanna of Green Gourmet Giraffe and Cindy and Michael of Where's the Beef. Broccoli also manages to find it's way into the majority of my stir-fry's and tastes amazing when roasted and is slightly charred. 

This simple broccoli-based pasta sauce is a work in progress... 

Deciding on a recipe for this month wasn't the easiest task. One of my intents with VOTM is to post a simple side dish for the particular vegetable of focus, however it was difficult to make up my mind this time around. Out of the many broccoli recipes I had been playing around with, none was particularly simple and there were definitely no side dishes! Our holiday to FNQ came and went at the end of last month and I missed my VOTM post for July which gave me some breathing space to ponder.

When serving steaming broccoli as a side one night, I decided to toss it with some garlic margarine that was left over from making garlic bread. This worked quite well although I found that steaming the broccoli left some water remnants which watered down the margarine to a degree. My alternative method was to roast the broccoli florets and serve them drizzled with garlic that had been cooked in dairy-free margarine. I preferred the second method and also cooked some cauliflower in the same fashion. They were both delicious and I could have eaten a truckload! 

I decided to post these couple of quick sides for this month as they are very simple, tasty and moreish. In fact, when rushing to get food on the table this week I was questioned why the plain steamed broccoli was not covered in garlic marg. It seems like this one will be a regular in the future...

Now's it time to get my thinking cap on for my son's request which I have a feeling could be another challenge!

Broccoli with garlic margarine - two ways

Cut a head of broccoli into florets and use as much garlic and dairy-free margarine as you like!

1. Steam broccoli florets until just tender, drain well, then toss with dairy-free margarine and minced garlic.
2. Roast broccoli florets at 200C for 20 minutes on a baking tray sprayed with olive oil. Meanwhile, melt dairy-free margarine in a small frying pan and cook minced garlic until it turns golden. Drizzle the garlic margarine over the broccoli when serving.  

VOTM - Cauliflower

When my idea for VOTM was developing in May and began with a post about about my love for brussel sprouts, I knew straight away which vegetable was going to feature next - cauliflower. It is a vegetable that many people (including myself until recently) primarily associate topped with a bechamel and cheese sauce and then baked in the oven. Although it may be rather tasty in this fashion, my love for this vegetable has intensified since I have been experimenting further...

A couple of the recipes that I began my cauliflower exploration with were Ashley's Pan-Roasted Cauliflower and the Red and White Cauliflower bake from Vegan Yum Yum. The combination of cauliflower with mustard, lemon, pine nuts and spring onions is so tasty and moreish, which makes Ashley's recipe a keeper and this has become one of my favorite ways to serve cauliflower as a side dish. The VYY red and white cauliflower bake is a very popular menu item at home with both the man and son being huge fans.

Carla's roast vegie cheezy pie and the Lentil, vegetable and quinoa stew from Fat Free Vegan that I blogged about recently have all been repeated several times. Although cauliflower is not the main ingredient, it is an essential inclusion in my book. Something that hasn't been made again yet is my Creamy cauliflower and tofu bacon soup although this will definitely get another showing as it was so delicious and disappeared in a flash. 

When I looked through my bookmarks of recipes to cook I was astounded at the quantity and diversity of cauliflower recipes that have been stowed away. Spicy dishes such as Vegan Dad's Tandoori Cauliflower, 101 Cookbook's Spicy Cauliflower with Sesame and Robin Robertson's Gobi Manchurian have all caught my eye. Some more unusual but intriguing things I would like to try are Cauliflower Couscous from Where's the Beef and Ground "Meat" from Diet, Dessert and Dogs.

Some other reasons behind this VOTM concept were not explored in my initial post. One is for a chance to discuss a seasonal vegetable and the many methods and recipes in which I like to enjoy it which is also an opportunity to share some blogging community spirit around. Another objective is to share a basic but hopefully interesting side dish that could otherwise miss out on being posted. So here is my recipe for this month, a simple side dish that was invented one evening and loved so much that it has been repeated countless times and is always greeted with a smile. 

It's a simple stir-fry that makes use of two or three vegetables which are totally interchangeable. Sometimes it can be broccoli and cauliflower florets, other times brussel sprouts, carrots and this time around I even used a choko! We enjoyed these stir-fried vegies with lemony roasted potatoes from Veganomicon (aka. lemony snickets around here) which were posted about here and Cindy's awesome vegan sausage rolls that we never seem to get enough of!

I make this side dish when I'm not really in the mood for roasted vegies or feel like adding a bit of spice to a meal. My latest trick has been to serve these stir-fried vegies alongside some lemony snickets when I'm trying something new out on the troops. That way if they aren't keen on my latest experiment at least they will be thoroughly satisfied with the other parts of their meal.

Mixed vegetable stir-fry with garlic and chilli

1 tablespoon peanut oil
2-3 cloves garlic, sliced into strips
1/2 teaspoon chilli flakes
1/2 head cauliflower, cut into small florets
2 small carrots, julienned
1 choko, peeled and cut into strips
1-2 tablespoons vegan oyster mushroom sauce

Heat a tablespoon of peanut oil in a wok over high heat. When the oil begins to smoke, add the garlic and chilli flakes and stir-fry for about 10 seconds. Add the cauliflower, carrots and choko and stir-fry for about a minute. Stir through the vegan oyster mushroom sauce and stir-fry for a couple more minutes. Remove from the heat and serve immediately.

VOTM - Brussel Sprouts

I decided to do a write up on a different vegetable every month and share a few ways I like to enjoy them. So from now when you see the VOTM prefix on a post that is my acronym for Vegetable Of The Month. And to get the ball rolling, my first post will feature brussel sprouts.

Brussel sprouts are something that I ate a few times as a child, they were always boiled to within an inch of their life and I never enjoyed them. In fact, none of my siblings liked them so mum stopped trying to make us eat them after a while. My husband was keen for me to cook sprouts a while ago and when I finally did, no effort was put into finding out different ways to prepare them. They were served the only way I knew and not surprisingly, I still didn't like them.

It wasn't until last year that I began to experiment with cooking sprouts in different ways. I evolved from a sprout hater to a sprout lover overnight! Roasting was one of the first methods I enjoyed, then I moved on to steaming sprout halves with chopped carrots and finishing them off with a light fry in nuttelex and toasted almonds.

More recently, sprouts have been enjoyed in shredded form. This began last year when I tried the Vegan Yum Yum stir-fry recipe for Seven Spice Udon. Appetite for Reduction has a recipe called Shaved Brussel Sprouts which is essentially onion, garlic and shredded sprouts seasoned with salt and pepper - which is a component of the last picture in my nut roast post. For my last Viva Vegan meal - Brazilian Black Bean Stew, I changed this side dish by ditching the onion and adding in some smoked paprika which turned out superbly - recipe below.

Whilst writing up this post, I flicked back through photos that haven't been posted to see if I could dig up any more sprout shots. The below meal was something I threw together in a hurry one night, using up left over vegies and totally not expecting it to be anything special. I actually didn't take a photo the first time around and because it was so good I tried to make it again the next week. I'm not sure why I didn't get around to posting about it and wouldn't be able to give you a recipe from looking at it. I'll have to make it again some day so it can be shared.      

Brussel sprouts are something that I really enjoy experimenting with and eating these days. Not so long ago I would have shied away from recipes that included them. Now I am always on the hunt for different ways to use them!

Shredded smoky sprouts (Adapted from Appetite for Reduction)

Olive oil spray
3 cloves garlic, sliced thinly
10 brussel sprouts
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
salt and pepper, to taste

To prepare the sprouts, slice off knobbly end off the bottom and remove the outer leaves. Cut each sprout in half and then slice into strips.

Spray a large non-stick frying pan with olive oil spray and heat on a medium flame. Cook the garlic for about 30 seconds, then add the sprouts, smoked paprika, salt and pepper. Fry for about 7 minutes, until the leaves become brown and crispy.