Dieter's Delight - Broccoli Stir-Fry

Broccoli is one of my favorite vegetables. And it's one of the easiest to make. And whenever I can find some fresh broccoli, I make sure I pick up a head.

After all the wedding feast over the last week, I had to take it easy. And the dieter series is revived!

This is a fairly simple recipe and wont take more than 20 minutes including chopping.

Boil a huge pot of water with plenty salt. Add the broccoli florets. When they turn a bright green (after about a couple of minutes), strain and keep aside.

Heat a shallow pan, drizzle some olive oil and when the pan is really hot, toss the broccoli florets. Add the broccoli stems, carrots and any other vegetables of your choice. Keep tossing on high heat for a minute.

Transfer to a bowl.

For the dressing, squeeze the juice of 1 lemon and add some fresh ground pepper. Pour on to the broccoli and dig in!

Dieter's Delight - Broccoli all the way!

Tonight's dinner - courtesy Gormei Market - Yeah I'd picked up the broccoli when I was there for the Easy cooking workshop by Sara Koshy :) It was an exhausting day at work and with the wretched traffic, I made it home really late.

So tonight's dinner is an amazingly easy to make soup and salad, with minimal ingredients.

The soup recipe is by Gordon Ramsay (Sunil - I made the soup finally and you may now call me D Gordon Iyer :-) )

Add bite sized pieces of broccoli in salted boiling water, and let cook until tender. (Pierce a knife through it and you'll know). Transfer the broccoli to a blender. Add the stock (about half the quantity) and blend well. Taste, and season as required. And yay, we are done. Drizzle a little olive oil and while you eat the soup, here's how you make the salad.

I'd read this recipe a few years ago and have been making it quite often. Perhaps my most favorite broccoli salad. Boil broccoli as above, except, let it be a tad crunchy. Finely chop garlic and ginger. Saute in high heat for under 2 minutes, until the aroma is released. Add the broccoli & a little salt, and stir fry for a minute or two until the garlic and ginger blend well with the broccoli. For the dressing, in about 3 tsp of sesame oil, add about 8 drops of soy sauce, mix well and drizzle over the salad. Toss well and serve.