Steamed Broccoli with Miso Peanut Butter Sauce makes a healthy snack.
Steamed Broccoli with Miso Peanut Butter Sauce
Growing up, broccoli was not one of my favorite vegetables. But, over the years, I have become a huge broccoli fan, especially after learning about its potent anti-cancer qualities. Fortunately, three of my four boys like broccoli. My oldest son is not a broccoli eater. I’ve tried feeding it to him at least 15 times over the years, and he still refuses to eat it. Although he doesn’t like broccoli, he does like Roasted Cauliflower, so I consider that a win.
Fresh Broccoli from My CSA Box
The last several weeks, I’ve been finding broccoli in my CSA Box and came up with a new dip for my kids this past week. I’ve been playing around with miso lately, and made this Miso Peanut Butter Sauce to go along with some steamed broccoli for dinner. It can be a bit of a challenge satisfying all the different tastes in our household, so I try my best to make vegetables at dinnertime appealing to everyone since I want them to eat them. The basic steamed broccoli satisfies my son who likes his vegetables plain – no sauce, no dip, just plain. Then, I have my youngest son who loves dips and spices, so this Miso Peanut Butter Sauce was something I created for him. And, for my other broccoli eater, he enjoyed this sauce, but I think he would have eaten the steamed broccoli on its own as well.
This week, a group of bloggers is featuring Broccoli as a Power Food. This weekly food blogging group features a different Power Food each week based on the book Power Foods: 150 delicious recipes with 38 Healthiest Ingredients from the editors of Martha Stewart’s Whole Living Magazine. Power Foods are foods that are outstanding in the amounts of vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients, essential fatty acids, fiber and more, that help fight disease and promote good health.
What makes Broccoli a Power Food? Not only is broccoli the most nutritious of cruciferous vegetables (including cauliflower, brussels sprouts, cabbage, bok choy, kohlrabi, napa cabbage, kale, and arugula, but it’s also exceptionally high in vitamin C and vitamin K, and is a good source of calcium, fiber, folate, vitamin B6. riboflavin, potassium, iron, and vitamin A. Broccoli is one of the best ant-cancer vegetables you can eat. One characteristic that sets cruciferous vegetables apart from other vegetables is their high glucosinolate content which may help prevent cancer by helping to eliminate carcinogens before they can damage DNA. Not only does broccoli contain indoles which help prevent stomach, prostate and breast cancer, but it also contains carotenoids and other nutrients that help kill free radicals.
Steaming broccoli is the best way to preserve its nutrients. I use a steam basket, placed in a saucepan filled with about 1/2″ of water. It’s so easy to steam broccoli. Simply bring a the water to a boil in the saucepan (with the steam basket in the pot), then place the broccoli florets and peeled steams in the steam basket, cover the saucepan, and steam for 5-6 minutes, until just tender. Of course, if you like raw vegetables, don’t bother steaming the broccoli. I find that briefly steaming broccoli makes it sweeter.
All part of vegetables are full of nutrients, so I try to use every part of each and every precious vegetable I get in my CSA Box – steams, leaves, roots, flowers. Broccoli stems are great in stir-fries, and broccoli leaves are wonderful in pesto (just blanch slightly).
Steamed Broccoli with Miso Peanut Butter Sauce (Power Foods)
Ingredients
- 1 head broccoli
Miso Peanut Butter Sauce
- 1 tablespoon light miso
- 1 tablespoon peanut butter
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon rice vinegar
- 1 teaspoon mirin
- 1-2 tablespoons water to thin sauce
Instructions
Steamed Broccoli
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Cut stem of broccoli from broccoli crown. Gently separate broccoli crown into florets. Trim off end of broccoli stem and peel skin. Slice into 1/2 inch pieces. Steam for 5-6 minutes, until just tender.
Miso Peanut Butter Sauce
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Mix together Miso Peanut Butter Sauce ingredients until blended. Thin sauce with additional water if desired.
Check out what these other bloggers have cooked up for this week: (If you’re interested in joining our group, contact Mireya from My Healthy Eating Habits.
Alyce –Â More Time at the Table
Ansh –Â Spice Roots,
Casey –Â Bookcase Foodie
Jill –Â Saucy Cooks
Martha –Â Simple-Nourished-Living
Mireya –Â My Healthy Eating Habits
Sarah –Â Everything in the Kitchen Sink
Bambi – Adobo Down Under
Sources:
Power Foods: 150 delicious recipes with the 38 healthiest ingredients from the editors of whole living magazine
The World’s Healthiest Foods: Broccoli
Oregon State University Linus Pauling Institute: Cruciferous Vegetables
This post has been linked up to Tidy Mom’s I’m Lovin’ It and Beyond The Peel’s Keep It Real Thursdays.
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oh yum! I am totally making this!! Have a great weekend girl!
Alison – I think you will really like this dip! Have a wonderful weekend!
This looks so healthy and fabulous. Love those greens!!
Amanda – this is healthy but oh so good!
What interesting stuff about broccoli! I like the idea of the leaves being used for pesto.
Use it all! My kids all adored broccoli, too…in fact I got tired of it. I’m resurrecting
it as something I cook often, but I have to say we like it at least a little steamed–not
totally raw. Happy Friday, Jeanette!
Alyce, broccoli is incredibly good for you, and as you can see, I try to use every part of it, leaves, stems and crowns. I steam it for a little just to remove the bitterness.
Ok Jeanette, it’s now official: the next time I visit Connecticut (don’t worry too much, I haven’t been back for 15 years!) I am crashing your dinner table! This sounds sooooooo delicious.
Jill – anytime, would love to see you!
I’ve been blessed with four broccoli-eating kids, so we are definitely going to try this sauce. Yum!
Shaina, you are very fortunate, but then again, I bet you started your kids early on eating broccoli and other veggies.
Beautifully steamed one! My daughter just turned into a broccoli lover. We are doing tempura today !! I know I have to try your miso soon.
that sauce sounds wonderful – I love the flavors of all the ingredients and often use them together. Broccoli is my favorite too… I could eat a whole steamer full as a meal! 🙂
I am a fan of broccoli so it is your peanut butter sauce that has my attention. It sounds great and I am pretty sure, it will be found on my table, in the very near future.
Ansh and Casey – I really loved this miso peanut butter sauce, it’s a nice change for a dip, a little sweet and a little salty.
I LOVE the miso peanut combo. We will be making this asap!
This sauce looks out of-this-world. I can’t wait to make it because feeding my hubby broccoli is no easy feat 🙂
Broccoli was one of the few veggies I would eat when I was little. I loved eating the “flowers” on top. This sauce sounds amazing! It would surely win over even the most anti-broccoli eater.
This is a perfect snack for me, esp. when served with peanut dip 😉
I use miso but never thought of combining it with peanut butter, great idea.
Thanks Norma, not sure why I decided to mix miso with peanut butter, but it works really well together.
I’m a huge broccoli fan and eat it a couple times a week. The miso peanut butter sauce has been added to my “must try” list! What a tasty idea.
Jeanette,
I love all the healthy miso sauces that you come up with. This sounds like a keeper too!
I love this dip. I have a big bag of miso paste literally begging me to make something with it!
Yum! That peanut butter sauce sounds killer! And I could eat broccoli all day!
Thanks Russell – it’s an unusual but delicious combination of flavors. So glad to hear you’re a broccoli fan!
Made this for lunch with a head of local broccoli–I loved it and will be repeating the recipe often! The flavors are a perfect complement to the broccoli. Thanks for a great recipe!
Jacki – so glad you tried it and loved it! Thanks for letting me know.
Awesome!! I’ve been looking for something to do with my leftover miso paste!
I have been passing this around to all my peanut butter fans. This is such a great dip. I cannot have peanuts so I just substitute it with either tahini or almond butter…..still really great. The tahini and sesame oil and miso are an amazing combination for ANYTHING
Thanks so much for your feedback Tracy – so glad you and your friends have been enjoying this dip – it is addictive, I love it! I appreciate you coming back and letting me know – I always love to hear when readers try one of my recipes and let me know how it came out.
How long can you keep the dip in the fridge? looks great !
Just found this recipe and so glad I did! It is delish! I didn’t have rice vinegar so I used apple cider vinegar instead. So good!!
Hi Martha – so glad you enjoyed this simple recipe and enjoyed it! Glad you were able to find a substitute for rice vinegar. I do use apple cider vinegar a lot too 🙂