As many of you have been waiting for this day to come, well I'm glad to announce you it has finally arrived! Winter is over, the snow, the rain is slowly starting to go away for better days.
Spring is the best time to achieve a new goal, start new beginnings, it's the season for fresh new opportunities, for me it just means, new reading, new cooking recipes.
I went through a few British recipes and came across a quite easy salad which made me feel hungry right away.
Fiery Broccoli and Chestnut Mushroom Salad
Ingredients and Method
* 1 head of broccoli (about 300g total weight)
*2 tablespoons olive oil
*3 shallots, sliced
* 1 large fresh mild red chili, deseeded and cut into julienne (matchstick) strips
*2 tablespoons caster sugar
*2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
*finely grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
*15 fresh chestnut mushrooms, quartered
*sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper (black pepper)
*poppy seeds to garnish
Remove the broccoli florets from the stalk and cut them all to the same size. Cook the florets in a saucepan of boiling salted water for 4-5 minutes or until tender. Drain, refresh in ice water, then drain again and set aside.
Peel off the outer layer from the broccoli stalk, then use a mandolin to finely slice the stalk into wafer-thin discs. Set aside.
Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large, non-stick frying pan over a high heat and sauté the shallots for about 5 minutes or until golden. Add the chili, then reduce the heat and sauté for a further 3 minutes. Add the sugar, white wine vinegar, and lemon zest, stir to dissolve the sugar, then bring to the boil. Once the mixture starts to boil, remove the pan from the heat, add the broccoli stalk discs, stir and then transfer to a bowl. Set aside to cool and infuse.
To cook the mushrooms, wipe the frying pan clean, then heat the remaining oil in the same frying pan over a high heat, add the mushroom quarters, salt and pepper and sauté for about 8 minutes or until golden brown. Stir in the lemon juice.
Mix the sauté mushrooms, broccoli florets and pickled stalk discs together. Arrange the salad in your chosen bowl or an individual serving plate and garnish with a sprinkling of poppy seeds. The salad is now ready to be served slightly warm or it can be cooled and chilled before serving if you like.
I personally don't put any chili in the salad even if it doesn't make it that spicy, I prefer not to put it just in case something gets a bit too much for me. For the mushrooms, we can't always get some chestnut mushrooms, sadly, so any mushrooms you may like, please go ahead and use them.
"No matter how long the winter, spring is sure to follow."
~Bella
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