BROCCOLI 'VICHYSSOISE': vegan, easy, kid-friendly

Perfect for a Dads' Day celebration: lovely and mellow, hot or cold...

Mellow, smooth Vegan Broccoli 'Vichyssoise':
 thoroughly green treat alongside Cornbread with bell pepper & green onions

The blogger has an inordinate fondness for broccoli.  It's the taste of it and the health benefits.  Whether it's hot in stir fries, steamed or floating in soups as a garnish, or in substantial salads it's easy to get through a lot in a lifetime.

Broccoli Soup however has been problematic.  Most broccoli soups involve cheese and/or potato or rice, both of which are on the blog's proceed-with-caution list.  

This soup, inspired by the BBC's Good Food site, hits all the right buttons.  It's green through and very tasty with a lovely mellowness.  For art's sake, a swirl of dairy or vegan yoghurt or cream prettifies it nicely.  But essentially, it's a dieters' delight.  

It's a great opportunity to use up broccoli stems and any green bits in your vegetable drawer.  67 included leftover cucumber and mange tout with no ill effect.

Cost: £2'ish (2020)

Serves: 4, multiplies easily

Ingred:

    1/2 tablespoon olive oil

    1/2 med to large onion or the well-washed greens of 6 spring onions

    med garlic clove, grated (opt)

    200-300gr/7-10.5oz broccoli,

        flowers & peeled stems

    100gm/3.5oz frozen peas 

    100 gm green leaves: chard, lettuce OR mange tout, snap peas or green beans 

    2/3 litre good stock (granules or cubes are ok)

    1/2 teaspoon sumac (or lemon zest)

    juice of half a good-sized lemon

    plenty of salt & pepper

Garnish: peas, mushrooms or croutons; yoghurt or cream; smoked paprika  

Method:

HOME-MADE EXQUISITE BARBEQUED PORK, Skinnier, almost guilt-free

Eating healthily doesn't mean pork's off the menu, especially if it's nearly fat free and lower-sugar & salt 

first posted feb 2018

Home-made Char Siu Pork, easy
'Perfectly flavoured & melt in the mouth.' Hard to believe it's low fat/sugar/salt.' Tasters
 

This exquisitely tender, succulent, guilt-free Chinese classic, Char Siu Pork, will be a real crowd-pleaser at Year of the Pig celebrations. 

Unmistakeable sweet and savoury sauce plus crisp edges make the pork a popular restaurant choice but some offerings are laden with sugar & salt, and hide thick layers of fat.   

67goingon50's version uses extra-lean pork fillet which has less fat than skinless chicken breast.  Though a little more expensive, it goes a long way.     

67's marinade reduces sugar, soy sauce & salt to minimise blood pressure/blood sugar issues. 

It does not include the usual red or yellow bean sauces, often considered necessary for authenticity, because they're likely to sit at the back of a westerner's cupboard. Instead 67 introduces hoisin sauce*.  No apologies because a jar of this dark, salty-sweet smokey condiment will be used again and again -- as a glaze, a dipping sauce or (like oyster sauce) a flavouring for fried rice. 

Preparation of the meat is simple but needs to be done a day in advance.  

Cost: £3-4, depending on meat 
Serves:  4-6 as a snack at a picnic or buffet 

Ingred:
   400-500gm/12-16oz pork fillet, trimmed of fat & sinew

 Char Siu Marinade:
     1 1/2 tbsp hoisin sauce
     1 tsp oyster sauce
     1/2 tsp reduced-salt soy sauce
     1/2 tsp toasted sesame oil (or peanut oil)
     3/4 tsp sugar
     1 1/2 tbsp maple syrup or honey     
     2-3 tbsp brandy or sherry
     1 tbsp tahini or smooth peanut butter
     2 med cloves garlic, peeled & grated
     2 tbsp peeled & grated ginger
     1 tsp 5-spice powder     
     1/2 star anise

     red food colour without e numbers* (opt) (67 didn't bother)

Method:

Equipment: a small roasting tin 5cm/2inches deep and a roasting rack that sits comfortably in it 

1. The day before: Cut the fillet into two equal sized pieces 
2. Mix all the marinade ingredients, whisking or processing to blend
3. Pour the marinade into a plastic zip-lock storage bag or a large plastic bag (placing the bag in a deep bowl first will reduce leakage)
4. Put the pork into the bag, mushing it round so the fillets are well coated
5. Refrigerate 4-6 hours or overnight, turning when you remember
6. When ready to cook, bring pork back to room temperature
7. Preheat oven to 200c/400f
8. Fill tin half full with hot water 
9. Drain and reserve marinade; rinse and dry star anise which can be re-used 
10. Place pork fillets on the rack
11. Bake 20 min, brushing marinade on the meat halfway through
12. Reduce temperature to 180c/350c; bake another 20 mins, basting every 5 mins or so.  If you have a meat thermometer, the inner temperature should be 65-70c/145-160f 
13. To give the fillets a charred look, turn temp up to max (OR turn on the grill) and cook until edges are slightly charred 
14. Leave to cool
15. Mix 1 tbsp maple syrup or honey with a drop of red colouring, if using; brush it all over the fillets until they glisten
16. Serve at room temperature; slice thinly on the diagonal

Comments: 

• 'The pork was perfectly flavoured and melted in the mouth.' Political Agent
• 'The sauce was so like restaurants in London's Chinatown, you wouldn't know fat, salt & sugar were reduced.  The meat was very tender.'  Retired writer  

Tip:
The marinade can also be used on a less expensive cut of pork like butt or shoulder, sliced into strips 2in/5cm wide, but the meat will be higher in fat

Ways to Serve Char Siu pork:

• over a mound of white rice with Honeyed Chinese leaves and gravy made with the leftover marinade plus stock
• sliced, on noodles in hot broth 
• over a salad of Chinese leaves & cucumber with Oriental dressing 
• as a snack, sliced     

*Lee Kum Kee   £2/400gm

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This recipe has  been developed by B M Lee/ Bright Sun Enterprises.  It may not be reproduced without the author's written permission.