Step 1: How to Broccolli Successfully

1. Start by chopping up the broccoli into manageable florets, removing any little leaves and the excess stalk. Then boil it to your preference, I usually boil for about 7 to 9 minutes.

P.S: broccoli is delicious if you don't kill it in the cooking process. You don't want it to go soggy and absorb a tonne of water / break the cell structure of the poor plant, you want it to have a slight crunch whilst still being cooked through to remove that ever so slight bitter flavour. This goes for most vegetables.

2. While that's cooking, chop the mushrooms into quarters and fry in the two tsps of feta oil. Once they've browned nicely, pop them into a bowl.

3. Then lightly heat up the cranberries and sunflower seeds in the same pan with any residue oil and juice. This will make the cranberries sweeter and accentuate the nuttiness in the sunflower seeds.

4.Once you've drained your broccoli, you can mix it in with the mushrooms then add your feta cheese, crumbling it into smaller chunks.

5. And finally, pour in the cranberries and sunflower seeds. Toss all the ingredients together and serve immediately!

Step 2: Serve and Share the Love

This can be really delicious as a side dish (especially to crispy skinned salmon) or even as a [vegetarian] meal of it's own. I think the colours of a meal are quite important, and I really like the deep red of the cranberries with the bright green of the broccoli and the pure white of the feta. And of course the flavours are important too, I really like this combination. You have a bit of sweetness, a bit of saltiness, some nuttiness and earthiness. And then of course the mix of textures.

I hope you enjoy this recipe,

wishing you all a happy, healthy and exciting 2016! x

Introduction: Broccoli "Salad" (GF)

Step 1: How to Broccolli Successfully

Step 2: Serve and Share the Love