Broccoli Asian Style

Both my men need some persuading to eat their cruciferous vegetables. Especially my husband wrinkles his nose in disgust when he detects a hint of sulphuric odour. Occasionally I insist that they eat their way through some kind of cabbage.
My son is happy with steamed broccoli, doused in soya sauce, but my husband needs a bit more convincing. The Asian flavours of this stir-fried dish mask the scent of the cabbage family sufficiently enough for him. This recipe combines green broccoli with vibrant red bell pepper tossed together with ginger, spring onions, garlic, sesame oil and soya sauce.
I don’t mind just stir-frying the broccoli for around two minutes or so. That leaves the little florets crunchy in the middle. If you have a nagging husband like me, you might want to steam the broccoli two minutes before stir-frying. That makes it a lot softer without damaging the vitamins too much.
Wishing you happy cooking, always!

Stir-fried broccoli, Asian style

Ingredients:

(for 4 servings)

• 2 cups broccoli (one big or two smaller heads)
• 1 big red bell pepper
• 6 spring onions
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 tbsp minced ginger
• ½ tbsp sesame oil
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• Salt
• Pepper

Method:

Clean and wash the spring onions. Chop them as you like. Peel the garlic cloves and mince them. Wash the bell pepper and the broccoli. Cut the bell pepper into cubes or slices and divide the broccoli into small florets. If you want to steam your broccoli to soften it, do this now. Clean the ginger root and mince it. About one inch (2.5 cm) of ginger will give you one tablespoon.

Place all your ingredients into easy reach before you start stir-frying. Heat the olive oil in a wok. Add the onions, the ginger and the garlic and stir them until the onions have softened and turned a bit translucent.

Add the bell pepper, the soy sauce and the sesame oil and combine well. Finally add the broccoli and fry for another two minutes or so.

If you want some zing in this dish, add some chopped fresh chillies in the beginning. Add salt and pepper before serving according to your taste.
Tip:
The healthy components of garlic and onions need oxygen to become heat and acid resistant. Experts recommend cleaning, chopping or crushing garlic and onions about 15 minutes before use. By doing this, you get the maximum benefits of the anti-cancer agents in garlic and onions.

The colours of nature

Eat the colours of nature

Phytonutrients, the colours of nature, seem to be the hottest discovery of scientists lately. The term is so new that my word-program does not recognize it and I had to add it to the dictionary. Scientists research this subject for less than two decades. Scientifically proven insights so far are still rare, simply because no really long term studies exist.

However, scientific proof is not everything. I believe in my own experiences. After eating a big bowl of mixed salad I feel good, light and satisfied. When I don’t consume any fresh vegetables or fruits for some days, I crave them. For me, this is all the proof I need for the fact that our bodies need vegetables and fruits, as many as they can get.

Phytonutrients, also called phytochemicals, are active substances in the pigments of plant skins – they literally are the colours of nature. Phytonutrients protect the health of plants. Some guard against viruses, bacteria and other diseases. Others repel bugs and predators.

Fortunately phytonutrients seem to help human beings as well. They appear to serve three major functions in the human body: they act as antioxidants; they regulate hormone levels; and they eliminate toxins. It seems they effectively diminish free radicals, a by-product of food metabolism, found in our blood. Free radicals cause cells to become weak and less active. Although phytonutrients work in the same way as vitamins and minerals, they are not. They are a class of substances on their own.

Not all phytonutrients are colourful. Some smell strongly like the glucosinolates found in broccoli, cauliflower and horseradish. These help keep the plant healthy by deterring pests. Other fragrant plant foods like herbs, spices and teas are also rich in phytonutrients.

Experts recommend eating four servings of vegetables a day and two or three servings of fruit. If you don’t reach this goal, don’t despair. We don’t live in an ideal world. Just eat as many different fruits and vegetables in as many shades of the rainbow as possible.

Scientists distinguish the following classes of phytonutrients.

Carotenoids: These are the pigments found in bright yellow, orange and red plants, and include the more familiar names beta carotene, lutein and lycopene. All have antioxidant properties.

Limonoids: A sub-group of terpenes, the same group that contains carotenoids. Limonoids occur most often in citrus fruit peels, and seem to protect lung tissue.

Phytosterols: Found in abundance in the seeds of green and yellow vegetables such as squash or pumpkin, phytosterols block the uptake of cholesterol in the intestines.

Phenols: These pigments give blueberries, grapes, bilberries and other ‘blue’ and violet fruits their colour. They’ve been studied for decades for their disease preventative properties.

  

Flavonoids: More than 1500 flavonoids are found in a wide variety of plants and herbs. Their biologic activity includes action against allergies, inflammation, free radicals, hepatotoxins, platelet aggregation, microbes, ulcers, viruses and tumours.

Isoflavones: This sub-class is found in beans and legumes. They deserve special mention because they appear to the block tumour growth.