Broccoli Summer Salad

 Okay so that broccoli could taste so good has been a big surprise today when I made this salad. But yes it can! this salad was so good. I made it ONLY because I wanted to make something crazy healthy cause I have been eating sooooooooo bad lately, so much crap. Anyway, wow, it was so good. Sweet, sour, with a kick, crunchy....marvelous salad and not hard, the only hard part would be toasting the almonds in the grill for 5 minutes.

INGREDIENTS:
-2 heads of broccoli.
-100 grams of toasted almonds.
-125 grams of cranberries.
-1 small red onion.

For the dressing:

-1/2 cup of buttermilk,

-1/3 cup of mayonnaise.

-2 tablespoon of cider vinager.

-1 tablespoon of sugar.

-3 tablespoon of shallots.

-1 pinch of salt.

-some pepper.

STEPS:

1. Slice up the broccoli in small bits, really watch the video of Deb because it is a great explanation. Add the chopped broccoli to a bowl.

2. Now chop the onion in small bits and add half to the bowl.

3. Toast the almonds for 5 minutes in the grill, they are so good if you do this, really.

4. Now chop up the cranberries, so much better if you chop them.

5. Now add all the ingredients for the dressing and add the rest of that red onion and the finely chopped shallot and stir well.

So so good. I had no idea you could get so much pleasure out of eating broccoli you all.

Broccoli and Goat's Cheese Soup

My husband calls me the Queen of Soups. And it is true. Is there anything better than a good soup in the winter or fall or really spring? Soups is all I cook at night. They fill you up and warm you. Did you know that it is one of the tricks for asians people to stay thin? 

I have found a keeper recipe in the book Good Housekeeping Cookery Book at Tyndale House in Cambridge. So good! 

INGREDIENTS:

-700 grams of broccoli
-2 medium onions. 
-150 grams of crumbly goat cheese.

-50 grams of butter.
-1 litre of chicken/vegetable stock.
-pepper and salt.
-6 garlic cloves (optional).

STEPS:

1. Melt the butter in a pot and cut up the onion in slices. Saute in low heat till it becomes translucent. 

2. Add the 1 litre stock and bring to a boil. 

3. And now add the broccoli that you have cut up in florets and bring it all to a boil again. Then turn down fire to simmer for 20 minutes.

4. Now let the soup cool a little and now add the cheese and stir.

5. In the meantime you can prepare the garlic if you want (totally optional this step). Basically just roast some garlic cloves in the oven with some oil. Let it roast for 20 minutes.

6. Get your hand blender and puree the soup. 

7. Finally serve in bowls and add black pepper and the garlic cloves to give some extra roasted flavour. You can peel the cloves and stir them in the soup but for me that was too much.

Superb! 

again: who would have known that goat cheese and broccoli would go together?? Not in a million years I would have guessed this.