We are slowly working our way through the Autumn vegetables from the allotment. Last week I used up the last of our own broccoli and I admit I’m a little bit disappointed that it’s all gone now. I’ve planted some other varieties of brassica (the vegetable family that our broccoli belongs to) for over the winter. It’s not as if we have no vegetables, it’s just that it’s one of my favourite vegetables. Recently the 15-year-old whispered over dinner that she actually liked broccoli when I cooked it. That is huge for a green-vegetable-hating-teenager let me assure you.

My love for the Thai Gold Sriracha continues and I mixed it with low fat greek yoghurt from Glenisk to make a dipping sauce. That makes it far more healthy for me than a lovely big dollop of mayonnaise on the side. Although I may be crying a little at the demise of my favourite dressing and salad accompaniment, I don’t have to compromise on flavour. You could eat this as a starter to a main meal or simply a light snack.

 Dynamite Broccoli (serves 4)

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon sunflower oil
• 1 medium onion
• 1 teaspoon each of ground cayenne pepper, ground cumin & ground coriander
• 1 large head of broccoli
• Some hot water (from the kettle is grand)
• 2 tablespoons low fat greek yoghurt
• 1 teaspoon sriracha sauce (if this is too hot for you, try a thai sweet chilli dip instead)

Method

Take a large deep frying pan and put it on a medium heat. Pour in the sunflower oil and allow to heat through.

Peel and chop the onion into large pieces or slices. Slowly cook the onion in the frying pan until soft. Sprinkle in the dried spices and cook them along with the onion now. While the aroma fills the kitchen, roughly chop the broccoli into long pieces so that you have a long stalk, and a short piece of head (as in the picture above). Toss the broccoli into the frying pan and coat with the toasted spices and onion.

Pour enough hot water into the frying pan to cover the bottom so that the broccoli is sitting half in/half out of the water. Turn the heat onto high. Turning the broccoli every few minutes, cook until the water has evaporated. Remove the broccoli from the frying pan and allow to cool a little.

Combine the yoghurt and sriracha together (there’s no need to season I don’t think).

Eat by dipping the broccoli head into the sauce and making a massive mess.