The Best Detox-y Broccoli Dishes

Rachel Tepper Associate Food Editor 

Photo credit: Eising Studio/StockFood

It seems each day brings another scientific study telling you to eat this, not that—and the reverse three days later—but a new study published in the journal “Cancer Prevention Research” has officially caught our attention.

Researchers found that subjects who each day slurped down a drink made with broccoli sprouts—two to three-day-old broccoli seedlings—were more likely than the placebo group to, ahem, filter out high levels of the harmful chemicals benzene and acrolein. (Benzene is associated with pollution, and both benzene and acrolein can be found in cigarette smoke.)

But these weren’t run-of-the-mill subjects. The clinical trial examined about 300 Chinese adults who lived in a rural farming community in Jiangsu Province, which has very high levels of pollution.

"Air pollution is a complex and pervasive public health problem," said Johns Hopkins University professor John Groopman, one of the study’s co-authors, according to a press release. “[We] need to translate our basic science into strategies to protect individuals from these exposures. This study supports the development of food-based strategies as part of this overall prevention effort.”

The researchers still have lingering questions—what’s the recommended dose of broccoli sprouts? How frequently should subjects drink it? Is the drink’s effectiveness long-lasting?—but the current findings are encouraging.

Keep in mind that broccoli sprouts have a greater concentration of the active ingredient—glucoraphanin, which when chewed or swallowed conjures a compound called sulforaphane that actives pollutant-fighting enzymes—than mature broccoli (the stuff you’re used to seeing at the grocery store) contains. When mature broccoli is cooked, the amount of glucoraphanin goes down even further.

But that doesn’t mean you should chuck your steamed broccoli out the window.

"Any amount of broccoli that you eat is probably a good thing," another co-author, Johns Hopkins senior scientist Patricia A. Egner told us. "We just don’t know what that threshold level is… it’s too early to say that a tiny bit won’t work just as well."

Our advice: Get your hands on some broccoli sprouts  and plunk them atop a hearty salad. Or pick up some florets of the mature stuff at your local grocery store. At the very least you’ll be getting your daily dose of Vitamin C, but it’s possible you’ll get a whole lot more.

Here are a few recipes to get you started:

Broccoli, lemon and Parmesan soup. 

Rich chicken stock is a luxurious base for this cheesy soup spiked with lemon.

Photo credit: Food52

Ingredients

• 2 pounds broccoli, trimmed and cut into florets
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 fat cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• 4 cups homemade or low sodium chicken stock
• 3/4 cups grated Parmesan
• 1 lemon
• Crusty bread for serving

Directions

1. Bring a large, heavy pot of water to a boil. Add the broccoli and boil for five minutes. Drain the broccoli well and set aside.
2. Add the olive oil and garlic to the pot over medium heat. After a minute or two, when the garlic starts to soften and turn golden, add the broccoli, season with salt and pepper, and stir well.
3. Cover the pot, turn the heat down as low as it will go, and cook for about an hour, stirring occasionally, until the broccoli is soft enough that it yields when you press it with the back of a wooden spoon (it may brown a little during this process -- this is a good thing).
4. Add the chicken stock and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Simmer the soup for 5 minutes.
5. Carefully puree half the soup in a blender or food processor, using a kitchen towel to hold the lid on tight. Stir the puree back into the pot. Stir in the Parmesan and lemon juice to taste. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Serve hot with plenty of crusty bread.

 Crustless broccoli-cheddar quiches. 

Who needs crust? Silky eggs swirled with Cheddar get a nice crunch from flecks of chopped broccoli.

Photo credit: Everyday Food

Ingredients

• Butter, for ramekins
• Coarse salt
• 1 package (10 ounces) frozen broccoli florets
• 6 large eggs
• 1/2 cup half-and-half
• Ground pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese (3 ounces)
• Crusty bread and mixed salad (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter four 8-ounce ramekins (or a 9-inch pie dish); set aside. Bring a medium pot of salted water to a boil. Add broccoli; cook 1 minute. Drain well; transfer to a cutting board, and blot dry with paper towels. Chop coarsely.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, half-and-half, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and nutmeg. Stir in broccoli and cheese.
3. Place ramekins on a rimmed baking sheet. Ladle broccoli mixture into ramekins, dividing evenly. Bake until golden brown, 35 to 40 minutes. Serve with crusty bread and a mixed-green salad, if desired.

Linguine with sausage and broccoli. 

A simple midweek pasta dinner gets jazzed up with spicy-and-sweet Italian sausage and broccoli draped in butter. 

Photo credit: Food52

Ingredients

• 1 pound italian sausage, a mix of hot and sweet
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 fat cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1 cup chicken stock (low sodium)
• 1 pound linguine
• 1 1/2 cup small broccoli florets
• 1 teaspoon chopped thyme leaves
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan, plus more for serving

Directions

1. Remove the sausage from its casings and break into small chunks. Heat the olive oil in a wide, heavy pan with high sides over medium-high heat. When it’s smoking, add the sausage and sauté, stirring occasionally, until nicely browned – about 5 minutes. Remove the sausage with a slotted spoon and keep warm on a plate.
2. Reduce the heat to medium and add the garlic to the pan. Cook for a couple of minutes, until the garlic is softened and fragrant (do not burn it). Add the wine and stir to scrape up any brown bits on the bottom of the pan. Reduce the wine by about two thirds, then add the chicken broth and return the sauce to a boil. Reduce until the sauce is dark and somewhat syrupy, 7 to 10 minutes.
3. While the sauce is reducing, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Fill a small saucepan with about ½ an inch of water, salt it generously and set it over high heat. When it begins to boil, add the broccoli and stir once. Cover the pot and cook the broccoli until just barely tender, a minute or two. Drain the broccoli and set aside.
4. Add the thyme leaves to the sauce and then remove from the heat while you cook the pasta. Once the water is boiling rapidly, add the linguine and cook until al dente, according to the package directions. Reserve about a cup of the pasta water before draining the pasta. Add the drained pasta to the sauce and set over medium-low heat. Fold gently to distribute, and then add the butter and a little of the pasta water, tossing to coat. Add the reserved sausage, broccoli and Parmesan and toss again gently, adding enough pasta water to make the sauce silky but not watery. Taste for seasoning and add salt if necessary. Serve immediately, passing the Parmesan at the table.

Go ahead, get your broccoli on.

Source: https://www.yahoo.com/food/the-best-detox-y-broccoli-dishes-89265819886.html