Love at first bite, Broccoli cous cous

 Broccoli cous cous

As more and more health-conscious individuals make a life choice to adopt gluten-free, low-carb and plant-based diets, a growing number of us are following the trend by using vegetables to replace flour, rice and other simple carbs.Shoppers are turning to cauliflower in particular because of its mild flavour and versatility, using it to make an array of recipes that have spread across social media, from muffins and mash, to gnocchi, and even pizza base.One of the most popular ways to prepare the cruciferous vegetable is to chop or pulverize it into grain-size particles, which many people use as a substitute for rice. I’m late to the Broccoli / cauliflower rice party. I was skeptical at first. How could blitzed raw cauliflower, warmed in a sauté pan, taste anywhere near as satisfying as fluffy, steaming white rice? It can but it needs needs some help from other flavours to send me back saying "please sir may I have some more?"
I looked for broccoli rice or couscous recipes on the internet and I drew a blank. My first thought was that people might have tried and either didn’t like it or it didn´t work. But I was determined to give it a try anyway. I followed the same steps as I did to make cauliflower rice and guess what? It worked, it was so delicious! I served it as a side to a pork curry.The flavour would be an ideal accompaniment to any pork dish,and a whole lot more interesting than a bit of old steamed broccoli floret.
 This is my broccoli cous cous kicked up several notches by some of my favourite Mediterranean ingredients. Fresh parsley, lemon, garlic, toasted almonds, anchovy and red pepper flakes make this plant-based grain an irresistible side dish.For starters you will need just broccoli, a little butter and olive oil to make this amazing side dish. What you add to the equation after that is entirely up to your own taste.
Broccoli cous cous
1 head broccoli
3 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil
Dash of Garum, colatura de alici, nam pla or any other anchovy based sauce
3 cloves garlic
Generous handful flat leaf parsley chopped
Salt, to taste
Cut the broccoli into medium pieces:
Transfer the broccoli to a food processor - work in batches if necessary.
Pulse the broccoli until completely broken down into couscous-sized granules.
Pull out any unprocessed pieces, transfer broccoli rice to a bowl and re-process the large pieces.
In a large sauté pan, melt butter, olive oil anchovy essence. Chuck in the garlic and processed broccoli and cook for 5 to 10 minutes. Add any further ingredients of your choice, toasted almonds, chilli flakes pistachios. Season with salt, pepper to taste.Serve.