As the nutritionist, former chef and mum-of-two Sarah Pound sees it, there’s a lot to love about Broccolini. Yes, it’s packed with nutritional goodies such as fibre, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. But, perhaps most importantly, it’s a veggie her two daughters can get behind.
“My girls love it,” says Pound, noting that they particularly like their Broccolini steamed or stir-fried. “My girls love Asian sauces, so we might add a little bit of soy sauce or some oyster sauce.” But even just tossing Broccolini in some olive oil, lemon and salt and pepper works great, Pound says.
Every parent knows there’s no point touting the virtues of a vegetable if you can’t actually get your kids to eat it.
“I’m really passionate about fussy eaters, because it’s such a battle for parents – there’s all this societal pressure to ‘feed your kids nutritiously’,” Pound says. “But I understand that sitting up every single night and trying to force them to eat their veggies is not enjoyable for anyone.”
That’s why Broccolini can be a great green veg to have in your arsenal. It has a milder, slightly sweeter flavour than broccoli, which little palates love. It’s also affordable, easy to cook and a versatile weeknight all-rounder that can be thrown into all kinds of meals.
In her house, Pound does Broccolini a raft of different ways. She’ll chop it up and chuck it in some fried rice alongside whatever tofu or meat she has on hand, as the perfect midweek fridge clearer. She’ll serve it alongside some chicken wings, base a salad around it, pair it with some white fish, or make it the star of a healthy pasta dish.
“We call it a ‘green monster pasta’, but it’s essentially like a green pesto pasta,” Pound says. “So you’ll have a homemade pesto or a store-bought pesto, either is fine. And then you cook out your Broccolini for a couple of minutes, chop it up, then stir it and the pesto through whatever pasta you like.”
Her absolute favourite Broccolini recipe is what she calls sticky chicken with Broccolini and green beans. It’s a meal her daughters adore and is designed to be an easy hit with kids everywhere.
You can serve it with either noodles or rice, Pound says, depending on what your family likes best. A splash of hoi sin sauce creates a bit of sweetness that helps it appeal to little ones, without packing in heaps of sugar. And it uses mincemeat, which as well as being affordable and easy to cook, is generally less intimidating to fussy eaters than a big chunk of meat.
On top of all that, the recipe is affordable and can be whipped up in just 10 to 15 minutes, all using the one pan – which means you won’t be slaving over the stove or the washing-up for hours.
It’s a great idea to introduce as many different veggies as possible to our kids early on, Pound says.
“Get your kids trying all different types of veggies from a young age. They’re more likely to eat them as they grow up and choose what goes in their own bodies if you’ve exposed them to those veggies from a young age.”
If you’ve not tried introducing Broccolini at home before, Pound has a couple of tips. The key to cooking Broccolini is to keep it quick – it only needs two or three minutes in the pan or pot. It should still be bright green and crunchy once you take it off the stove as it will continue cooking after it’s removed from the heat (to stop it cooking too much, you might like to run it under some cold water). Then, she says, “it’s good to go”.
And when you’re feeding it to kids, the chopping board is your friend.
“Chop it up!” Pound says. “You can chop it up like any other veggie and mix it through whatever recipe, to make it a little bit easier for kids to eat and not be overwhelmed by like this big stick of green on their plate.”
Really, Broccolini is easy.
“If you’ve got recipes you go to all the time that use broccoli, you can always swap that out with Broccolini for something a little bit different,” Pound says.
“Anything that you usually throw broccoli into, change it up and pop some Broccolini in there.”
RECIPE: Sarah Pound’s sticky chicken with Broccolini and green beans (serves 4, prep: 15 minutes)
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon peanut oil
1 small brown onion, chopped
400g chicken mince
2 cloves garlic, very finely chopped
2cm piece ginger, very finely chopped
1 small red capsicum, diced
1 bunch Broccolini, roughly chopped
1 cup green beans, trimmed and roughly chopped
3 spring onions, finely sliced
Sauce:
1 tablespoon cornflour
2 tablespoons water
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup chicken stock (low sodium)
1/4 cup honey or pure maple syrup
1 tablespoons sesame oil
1 tablespoon white sesame seeds
Cooked white or brown rice to serve
Method:
1. Sauce: in a medium-sized bowl, whisk together cornflour and water. Add remaining ingredients (soy sauce, chicken stock, honey, sesame oil, and sesame seeds) and whisk to combine. Set aside.
2. Place a large fry pan or wok onto medium-high heat, add the oil and let it heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring, for 2-3 minutes. Add the mince to the pan and use a wooden spoon to break it up into small pieces over 3-4 minutes. Then add the garlic and ginger, and cook this while stirring for 1-2 minutes.
3. Add the red capsicum, Broccolini and green beans and stir these through for 30 seconds. Turn the heat to high. Then add the sticky sauce, stir through and then leave the mince without stirring for 2-3 minutes, so that it caramelises. It should darken and look more saucy. Stir everything through for the last 30 seconds and turn off the heat.
4. To serve: place rice into bowls and spoon over some of the sticky mince. Feel free to top with some fresh spring onion.
Buy Broccolini from your local supermarket or independent retailer.