I’m excited to share a delicious recipe that I recently highlighted in a cancer nutrition workshop: Chilli Broccoli Salad! This salad is not only tasty but also a fantastic way to boost your intake of sulforaphane, a powerful plant compound found in cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, kale, cabbage, and cauliflower!
Sulforaphane is activated when these veggies are cut, chopped, or chewed, making dishes like this salad especially beneficial. Laboratory studies have shown that sulforaphane can reduce cancer development, suppress cancer cell growth, and even induce the self-destruction of abnormal cells. However, more research is needed to confirm these effects in humans.
While we shouldn’t rely on sulforaphane alone as a cancer prevention strategy, it can be viewed as a helpful addition to our health and wellbeing ‘toolbox’. Including a variety of phytonutrients from a wide range of plant foods - vegetables, fruits, whole grains, soy foods, pulses, nuts, and seeds - is the best way to support your health. It's also important to meet protein and calorie needs.
This recipe comes from one of my favourite restaurants, Dishoom! Personally, I don’t add granulated sugar because I don’t think it is needed. You could use a dash of raw honey instead - still sugar, but with a few extra benefits! I often use cranberries or pomegranates instead of dates.
The original recipe suggests this makes 2 servings. I like to use a whole broccoli, including the stalk, which creates a larger portion that can be enjoyed over a few days. I add it to LOTS of things, as you can see!
Ingredients
1 small broccoli head
75g roasted pistachio nuts
¾ fresh red chilli
25 coriander leaves
4-5 mint leaves
25g roasted pumpkin seeds
25g Medjool dates
Salt, to taste
45g lime & chilli dressing
1 lime wedge
For the lime & chilli dressing
25ml lime juice
4–5 thin slices of ginger
1¼ small green chilli
½ tsp fine sea salt
19g granulated sugar (see my note above)
12ml rice vinegar
75ml mild olive oil
A few mint leaves
Method
Wash the broccoli, dry and chop into small morsels. Crush the pistachios very lightly, using a pestle and mortar. Finely chop the red chilli and tear the coriander and mint leaves. Place everything in a large bowl.
Pull the dates in half with your fingers, discard the stone, then slice each half into quarters and add to the bowl. (If your dates are very sticky, handle them with slightly wet fingers; the water will encourage the fruit not to stick to itself.)
Pour over the lime and chilli dressing (please see below for how to prepare this). Toss everything together and scatter over the roasted pumpkin seeds. Squeeze lime over the salad and use a lime wedge to garnish.
To make the lime & chilli dressing
Blitz the ingredients together, using a mini food processor or stick blender, until completely homogenised.
Any leftover dressing will keep in the fridge for 3–4 days. It will work brilliantly on any salad or green vegetables and is also delicious drizzled over ripe avocado or served with grilled fish.
P.S. I've been asked where I got my salad bowl. Here's the link: https://amzn.to/3Y4nAjN
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