Getting your greens in isn’t always easy but with this cooking tip, you’ll be able to make sure they’re as healthy as possible.
The Heart Research Institute (HRI) has revealed how you should be cooking your vegetables to maintain their important qualities. But don’t worry, keeping their flavour is also a top priority.
HRI says: “For all vegetables, higher temperatures, longer cooking times and larger quantities of water cause more nutrients to be lost. Water-soluble vitamins (C and many of the B vitamins) are the most unstable nutrients when it comes to cooking because they leach out of vegetables into the cooking water.
“So avoid soaking them in water, use the least amount of water when cooking and use other cooking methods, such as steaming or roasting.
“Also, if you have cooking water left over, use it in soups or gravies as it holds all the leached nutrients.”
It adds that broccoli, cauliflower and brussel sprouts are high in glucosinolates which the body can convert into a range of cancer-fighting compounds.
Chopping broccoli and letting it sit for a minimum of 40 minutes before cooking also allows crucial parts of the vegetable to activate.
HRI is currently researching how the naturally occurring chemicals associated with broccoli, cauliflower and brussel sprouts could be used to develop new treatments for thrombosis (blood clot formation), stroke and diabetes.
To cook broccoli, keep its nutrients and flavour, you can try putting it into the oven to roast.
The broccoli stalk is just as delicious and nutritious as the florets and it can also be roasted.
BBC Food says you should toss the broccoli florets and stalk spears on a baking tray with the olive oil, salt and black pepper.
This simple method will leave you with a delicious addition to your meal which is filled with both flavour and nutrition.