Broccoli is one of those green vegetables you either love or hate, but sometimes unfairly.
Did you know that you can make this inexpensive superfood SO tasty that you may even enjoy a bowl of it alone as a meal?
This isn’t out of the realms of possibility when you make this stir-fried chili, lemon and garlic recipe with zero added oils or fats. Yes, you can make and greens HEALTHY and tasty when you cook them like this, not just broccoli.
Why Is Broccoli SO Healthy?
Did you know that broccoli is one of the highest protein vegetables? It comes in at over 2.8g of protein per 100g. That’s pretty good going for a vegetable, and therefore makes it a great addition to your whole foods plant based diet.
Broccoli is also a high fibre, weight loss food that will help stabilise your blood sugar and fill you up for hours with a slow burn of energy.
Broccoli Nutritional Facts Per 100 Grams
- Calories – 34
- Protein – 2.82g
- Sodium – 33 mg
- Fibre – 2.6g
- Fat -0
- Cholesterol – 0
- Calcium – 47 mg
- Iron – 0.73 mg
- Potassium – 316 mg
- Vitamin A – 31 mcg
- Vitamin C – 89.2 mg
Broccoli also contains lots of B vitamins and omega 3 fatty acids that are good for the brain and central nervous system.
How To Cook Broccoli
Broccoli has many uses and is very versatile. Here are some ways you can add this cruciferous vegetable to your life in tasty ways.
Remember, when using raw, it’s best to chop broccoli as finely as possible for the best texture. Big lumps of raw broccoli aren’t always pleasant to everyone’s palate, but become totally transformed when finely chopped.
Here’s some creative ways to use your broccoli:-
- Add to stir-fries.
- Chop super finely into a homemade coleslaw.
- Add to this delicious, pink salad recipe.
- Chop finely into any salad.
- Stir fry on it’s own with spices.
- Steam or boil as a side dish.
- Serve with Homemade Shepherd’s pie.
- Braise in the oven with some stock and spices.
- Blitz into a salad dressing with avocado, lemon juice, garlic, water, salt, pepper and a dash of maple.
How To Make Broccoli Stir Fry
This stir fried, chili, lemon and garlic broccoli recipe takes roughly 10 minutes to make from start to finish. It requires NO OIL, and that’s what we love about this dish the most. You can eat healthy broccoli pain free!
To make this broccoli stir fry, you can use any kind of broccoli you like. This wonderful veggie comes in may varieties, such as tender-stem, sprouting and purple broccoli. Plus the basic kind like we have used here, which you find in most supermarkets of course.
When it comes to stir frying vegetables, fastness is always key. Cooking in minimal time helps to keep more of the broccoli’s nutrition in, which is ultimately what we are aiming for with this dish.
Make sure that you use a large pan or ideally a Wok for this job. This allows for better distribution of heat and a faster cooking time overall.
How To Stir-Fry WITHOUT Oil
Stir frying without oil may seem bizarre to you right now. It goes completely against the grain, and you probable can’t imagine for a second how you could possibly get the flavour and texture you want from a dish without it.
Well, we’re here to bust that myth once and for all. If you follow the instructions in this recipe to the letter, you’ll end up with a dish that really does not miss the oils. You won’t believe how good food can be without oil. You’ll even begin to find the flavours of plant based foods enhanced without oil once you get into the habit of not using it.
Hang on, are oils that bad?
The short answer to this is YES. Most oils of any kind are not healthy for the human body, ESPECIALLY when heated to a high heat, such as in the case of stir-frying or flash frying.
When heated, changes occur in your oils. They have reactions to the heat such as oxidation, hydrolysis and polymerization – all of which are toxic to the body. Some oils also break down into toxic by-products called polar compounds.
There are, however, some oils that can take high heats better than others, but we prefer to stay away from cooking with all oils as much as possible to stay in line with the whole foods plant based way of living.
What Are Healthy Fats?
We have said to stay away from most oils, but just to clarify, we do not mean whole fats from plant based sources. These include avocados, olives, nuts and seeds, so long as you eat them whole and don’t extract the oils.
However, high quality refined oils such as olive, flax, avocado and hemp are often used in moderation (and always cold pressed). These are a world away from the toxic cooking oils we were talking about earlier, but are still not whole foods plant based compliant.
Stir-Fried Chili, Lemon & Garlic Broccoli Recipe (NO OIL!)
Equipment
- Wok or heavy duty frying pan
- Chopping board
- Wooden spoon
- Chopping knife
Ingredients
- 1 head broccoli you can use other types of broccoli too, such as tenderstem or purple sprouting. Purple sprouting broccoli has a faster cook time, so be wary of this.
- ½ red chili pepper thinly sliced (optional)
- 5 cloves garlic crushed
- ½ fresh squeezed lemon you may need a whole lemon if you have one that isn't very juicy.
- 1 tbsp tamari sauce or soy sauce
- Black pepper
- Hot water for splashing
Instructions
- Chop your broccoli into bitesize florets.
- Heat you Wok or frying pan on highest heat with your tamari sauce and about 1 tbsp water.
- Once hot, add your broccoli florets, sliced chili, pepper and crushed garlic. Stir.
- Fry for around 5-7 minutes according to your tastes, stirring frequently to prevent sticking. A little sticking is fine as it will allow your broccoli and garlic to caramelise a bit, but don't let it burn. Keep adding splashes of hot water to prevent everything from drying out too much.
- Once your broccoli is cooked to your liking, you can turn off the heat and only then add your lemon juice. If you add lemon juice whilst the heat is still on, it can go bitter. Be sure there's a little bit of juice in the bottom of your pan so the whole thing isn't too dry. You may need a tiny bit more hot water. You may wish to add more spices or tamari also.
- Serve immediately!
Video
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