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Broccoli and halva salad

Savoury and sweet bring harmony to salads and particularly when brassica oleraceaare concerned. This family of vegetables – colloquially known as brassicas, which encompass broccoli, kale, cauliflower, gai larn, bok choy, cabbage, turnips, brussels sprouts etc – tend to have a slight earthy bitterness which responds enthusiastically to a hint of sweetness. This recipe, featuring the unusual inclusion of halva, emphatically proves this theory.

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A bowl of mixed green salad with crumbled cheese, seeds, and a metal serving spoon on a marble surface.

The genius of this salad – and you will agree with me once you taste it – belongs not to me, but to British chef and cookbook author Gill Meller. Gill’s most recent book Outside, dedicated to the joys of cooking and eating outdoors, offers a kale with halva and raisins salad that is a symphony of earth and sweet.

Broccoli and halva salad

Serves

Ingredients

500 ml vegetable stock or water
200 g quinoa
extra virgin olive oil
2 small heads (560g / 1.25 pounds) broccoli, cut into florets
2-3 handfuls salad leaves such as baby spinach, baby arugula/rocket
2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds, white, black or a combination
60 g halva, crumbled

Sesame dressing

2 tablespoons tahini
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 clove garlic, grated
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 tablespoon sesame oil

Instructions

Pour the vegetable stock or water into a medium pot and bring to the boil. Add the quinoa and once it comes back to the boil, cover, reduce heat to medium and cook for 10-12 minutes until all the liquid has been absorbed. Turn off the heat and let it stand for 10 minutes - it will fluff up and dry out. Uncover and transfer to a large salad bowl or platter and allow to cool while you prepare the rest of the salad.
Meanwhile, heat a large grill or frying pan on medium high. Add 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil and the broccoli florets, working in batches if needed (avoid overcrowding the pan), and cook undisturbed until charred on bottom, about 2 -3 minutes. Toss and continue cooking until the broccoli is charred in spots, just tender but still very green, another 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat and continue cooking the remaining broccoli, if needed.
In a bowl, add the tahini, soy sauce or tamari, garlic, rice vinegar and sesame oil. Whisk until smooth. Add 1 tablespoon of water and whisk again. The consistency should be pourable. If it is too thick, whisk in a little more water.
To quinoa, add the salad leaves, broccoli and dressing. Toss to combine. Top with sesame seeds and halva and serve.

Tips and Variations

A note about halva – rich and nutty halva is made from combining ground sesame seeds (tahini) with sugar. It is fudge-like, with a crumbly texture. Often, halva is flavoured with rosewater, chocolate, peanut butter, cardamom, pistachios, caramel etc. If you’re unsure, opt for a plain halva for this salad. During testing, I actually used a nougat flavoured halva and then a peanut butter one. Both worked beautifully.