Mary Berry claims that there’s a simple way to make broccoli and cauliflower taste delicious without boiling them. I tried it out and was very impressed.
Broccoli and cauliflower will be tastier with Mary Berry’s 1 cooking tip – no boiling
Broccoli has never been my favourite veg, as boiling it always seemed to leave it tasteless. However, recently I’ve taken to roasting my broccoli, which has significantly improved its flavour.
But when it comes to cauliflower, I’ve only ever boiled it. Mary Berry suggests that the secret to these two veggies in her recipe is a good stir-fry with olive oil.
In her cookbook, Mary Berry Everyday, Mary advised: “Making a change from boiled vegetables, this is quick to do and very tasty. Cooked like this, the broccoli and cauliflower retain a nice crunch too.”
Boiling broccoli and cauliflower can strip them of their natural flavours, leaving them bland or even bitter. It also makes the veggies soggy and less nutritious, as many of their vitamins are lost in the boiling water.
This way of cooking broccoli and cauliflower only calls for a few ingredients
On the other hand, stir-frying broccoli and cauliflower on high heat caramelises their natural sugars, resulting in a much more appealing nutty or savoury flavour.
I discovered that altering how I cooked cauliflower made it crispier, tastier, and even healthier, as stir-frying helps retain more nutrients.
I even found this method of cooking broccoli preferable to roasting it in the oven with lemon juice, garlic and parmesan cheese.
Ingredients
- Half a head of broccoli
- Half a head of cauliflower
- One onion, finely sliced
- Two garlic cloves, crushed
- One tablespoon of runny honey
- Salt and pepper
- Olive oil
Method
First off, I chopped the cauliflower and broccoli into the tiniest florets I could manage, discarding any leaves or stems. I then prepared the onions and garlic by slicing and crushing them finely,
To begin, I started by cutting the cauliflower and broccoli into small floretsFry off the onions before adding in the broccoli, cauliflower and garlicI drizzled honey over the vegetables after cooking
Next up, I heated some oil in a large pan until it was sizzling hot, then tossed in the onions, giving them a good fry for about two to three minutes on high heat.
Following this, I threw in the broccoli, cauliflower and garlic, stir-frying them for another couple of minutes until they began to take on a golden hue. Be warned, you might need to add more oil at this point as the veggies can scorch quite quickly.
I then popped a lid on the pan, turned down the heat and let everything simmer for 15 minutes, despite Mary Berry’s advice of only three minutes – they were still rather firm.
Afterwards, I took off the lid and gave the vegetables a quick fry until they had softened slightly but retained a bit of crunch.
To finish off, I drizzled the veg with honey, seasoned it with salt and pepper, gave it all a good stir and served it up.