Charred Broccoli and White Bean Bowl with Tahini
Broccoli cooked hard enough to blister, creamy white beans and a lemony tahini sauce. The weeknight bowl I come back to more than any other.
Most people undercook broccoli out of politeness. Push it further: a screaming hot pan, very little stirring, and you get blistered, almost nutty florets that taste nothing like the steamed version of your childhood.
Paired with white beans straight from the jar and a tahini sauce you can make with one hand, this is the bowl I cook when I get home late and still want to eat properly.
Why this one is good for you
- Beans do the heavy lifting: a generous portion of cannellini beans brings both plant protein and slow-release carbohydrate.
- Brassicas, briefly cooked: high heat and short cooking time keeps more of the vitamin C in the broccoli than boiling ever will.
- Tahini for calcium: sesame paste is one of the quieter calcium sources in a vegetarian kitchen.
Charred Broccoli and White Bean Bowl with Tahini
Ingredients
- 1 large head broccoli, cut into small florets, stalk peeled and sliced
- 400 g cooked cannellini beans, drained
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp chilli flakes
- 2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
- 3 tbsp tahini
- 1 lemon, juice and zest
- 2 tbsp cold water
- 2 tbsp pumpkin seeds, toasted
- Salt and black pepper
Method
Get a large frying pan properly hot. Add 2 tbsp olive oil and the broccoli in a single layer, cut sides down, with a pinch of salt. Leave it alone for 4 minutes — resist stirring — until the undersides are dark and blistered.
Toss once, add the sliced garlic and chilli flakes, and cook another 2–3 minutes until the garlic is pale gold and fragrant.
Add the beans and the remaining oil, season, and warm through for 3 minutes, crushing a few beans against the pan so they thicken everything slightly.
Whisk the tahini with the lemon juice and cold water. It will seize first, then loosen into a pourable cream — keep going. Season with salt.
Pile into bowls, spoon over the tahini, scatter with pumpkin seeds and lemon zest, and finish with plenty of black pepper.
Tip
No broccoli? Cauliflower, romanesco and thickly sliced sprouts all behave the same way in a hot pan. Anything in the cabbage family rewards a little violence.