Broccoli Salad

Food of kings. Or at least, it should be. I first discovered a variation on the theme in New Caledonia (thanks, Brenda!) and began making it myself earlier this year.

Now, I never used to be fond of broccoli. At all. Especially not raw - ew! But now I feel there's something missing if I don't have a bowlful every day.

So chop up as much as you think you can eat. Use the entire stalk, too - fabulous crunchy fibre. Chop 'em all fairly small, as you see above. Slice an orange into slightly larger chunks and mingle.

Then pour on a generous serving of plain yoghurt. I use the honey flavoured one above, but I've tried vanilla too and it works just fine. If you want to be really flash, use Greek-style and drizzle a little sweet chilli sauce over it.

Then the toppings: mostly a mix of nuts and seeds. Today I had approximately equal amounts of cashews, almonds, cranberries and linseed/flaxseed. Pumpkin and sunflower seeds are good too. I hear recommendations to add bacon and cheese - I'm not sure how that would work. My mix is perfect for me - it's really more sweet than savoury. If you took out the broccoli, it would be a dessert!

There's an art in the eating, too - make sure there is a bit of everything in every bite. Some green, some orange, some crunch of nuts. It's my new favourite lunch since capsicums got priced out of the market and since my frenzy for eggs has abated somewhat.

Raw broccoli takes a good deal of chew effort to get through. You really feel like you've eaten well!

...Oh, and yes, there are interesting things in my kitchen :P