Make Broccoli your new daily side!!
- The Honest Project
- Jul 22, 2015
- 2 min read
Broccoli is often referred to as the original superfood. It is nutrient dense, containing calcium, protein and fibre. It also contains vitamins A, C and K and some B vitamins. Packed full of antioxidants, broccoli helps maintain cell health which is essential for well being and for fighting premature aging.
Up to now, I haven't eaten all that much broccoli, instead depending on kale and spinach for my daily intake of green vegetables. However, always working to improve my diet, I have decided to start introducing more broccoli to my diet and have set myself the task of eating a portion of broccoli on a near daily basis. I am not talking about once or twice a week, I am talking about four to five days a week minimum. This might sound boring, but it's pretty common for prople to have a few foods that they eat on a near daily basis. How many Irish people have potatoes every single day with either dinner or lunch or even both? As I don't eat all that much potatoes, I thought I would make broccoli my regular vegetable side instead.
This hopefully will be a pretty easy task as broccoli can be introduced to the diet in different ways, such as adding it to salads, juicing it or lightly steaming it and serving it as a side to dinner or lunch. If steaming broccoli, the key is to steam if for no longer than 3-5 minutes so as to retain the maximum nutrients. So as to not spoil your good efforts, avoid covering your beautiful steamed broccoli in butter or creamy dressings. Instead opt for seasoning your broccoli with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Usually we eat just the flower of the broccoli, but the entire vegetable can be eaten. The stalk contains important nutrients so don't let it go to waste. Triming the stalk, thinly slicing it and adding it to a stirfry would work really well. Again, just make sure not to overcook it. Of course for any juicing or smoothie fans, the stalk of the broccoli can be juiced or added to your smoothie.
Yesterday was the first day of my broccoli challendge. For dinner, I wasn't too hungry as I had a green juice about an hour before dinner time. I made sweet potato wedges with homemade guacamole and added a side of lightly steamed broccoli. I seasoned the broccoli with sea salt and black pepper. It was really tasty and I felt so happy that I had stuck to my task for day one. Now to see how many different ways I can eat broccoli!!
