charred purple sprouting broccoli with caper basil tahini sauce {paleo + vegan)

I can never stay away from roasted vegetables for very long. And this time, I found some very pretty spring purple sprouting broccoli to roast and drizzle with a caper basil tahini sauce!

Purple sprouting broccoli just happened to be that one piece of sweet spring produce that I discovered on my latest trip to the grocery store, but if you’re local market shelves aren’t stocking this pretty veg don’t fret! You can easily substitute broccolini or regular broccoli.

But if you DO see it at the store I bet you’ll wanna grab some, too.

I mean LOOK at that gorgeous color.

I love broccoli, but when broccoli is purple it’s a whole other level of love.

Like can’t keep my hands off it love.

And on top of being beautiful, it has a really spectacular flavor as well. It’s quite sweet and incredibly tender, with all the charming complexity of broccoli that we love. And actually a closer relative to romanesco than broccoli, oddly enough. but comes into season a bit earlier than either.

Which makes it the PERFECT candidate for a Spring roasted veggie dish.

Charred to perfection and drizzled with CAPER BASIL TAHINI SAUCE and we’re talking some seriously amazing stuff, y’all.

This sauce started off a little bit more simple – basically garlic + lemon + tahini sauce, but then you know, I can kinda get wrapped up in the whole sauce thing.

(All about that sauce life, ya know?)

And fresh basil + capers pretty much take anything to the next level.

Because the whole vegetable is really quite flavorful and tender I kept as much of the stem intact as I could by barely trimming the ends and peeling away the tough, thicker skin of the broccoli with a vegetable peeler.

After which I briefly blanched it before drying, seasoning and roasting. The blanching did cause some of the purple color of the broccoli to leach out of the florets, so if you want to maintain as much of that vibrant hue as possible I would recommend steaming it for an equal amount of time instead.

After the broccoli comes out of the hot water and gets cold rinse or an icy bath to stop the cooking, you’ll dry it super well (to prevent steaming instead of charring, which is why we’re all here, right?), and season it with oil + salt before popping it in the oven.

And while it’s charring away and then cooling a bit you’ll have just the right amount of time to whip up the caper basil tahini sauce.

(This was my version of a test bite, just to make sure things were tasting just how they should.. and also because I just couldn’t wait to finish shooting it before I ate some!)

did you make this recipe? I would love to know how it turned out for you! when you rate my recipes and leave feedback it helps me continue to improve. you can leave me a comment below, or snap a picture and post it to instagram with the tag @nyssaskitchen or hashtag #nyssaskitchen! xo

charred purple sprouting broccoli with caper basil tahini sauce

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• Author: Nyssa Tanner
• Total Time: 25 minutes
• Yield: 4 servings 1x

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Description

Charred purple sprouting broccoli with caper basil tahini sauce is a simple spring vegetable recipe with purple sprouting broccoli and an easy to make tahini sauce that’s elevated with garlic, lemon, capers and basil, topped with some toasted sunflower seeds for crunch.

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

for broccoli

• 2 bunches purple sprouting broccoli or broccolini
• 1 tbsp avocado oil
• sea salt

for tahini sauce

• 1/4 cup tahini
• 1 large clove of garlic, grated or pressed
• 1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
• 1/8 tsp lemon zest
• 1 tsp white wine vinegar
• 1/2 tsp maple syrup
• 1/4 tsp salt
• water
• 1 tbsp capers, roughly chopped
• 1 tsbp fresh basil, finely chopped
  

for garnish

• a little more fresh basil
• toasted sunflower seeds
• flaky sea salt

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Instructions

FOR BROCCOLI

1. Trim any thick woody ends off the broccoli and use a vegetable peeler to peel away the outer most layer of the stemmy part of the stalk so they’re all relatively similar in size // thickness.
2. Bring a large pot of salt water to a boil and preheat oven to broil on high.
3. Add broccoli to the boiling water and cooking for 3 minutes (less if they’re very thin stalks). Remove to a colander and run cold water over them or immerse in an ice bath immediately to stop the cooking.
4. Thoroughly pat dry using paper towels (or a dish towel that is not white! Mine was stained purple from this step).
5. Drizzle with avocado oil and a few big pinches of sea salt and toss to coat.
6. Line up on a parchment lined baking sheet, being careful not to crowd the pan (you can always do the broiling in two batches if necessary – if you cook the broccoli too close together it will steam instead of char).
7. Broil on high for 4 minutes.
8. Flip and broil on the other side for about another 3 minutes, until very hot and charred on the edges.
9. Remove from oven and set aside to cool slightly.

for tahini sauce

1. While broccoli is cooking // cooling, make the tahini sauce.

2. Whisk together tahini, grated garlic, lemon juice, zest, white wine vinegar and maple syrup. The mixture will be very thick at this point. Thin by whisking in water about 1 tablespoon at a time, until you reach the consistency of thin yogurt. Stir in chopped basil and capers and season with more salt + lemon if desired.

for assembly

Plate a few spears of broccoli on serving plate, drizzle with tahini sauce, and garnish with toasted sunflower seeds, a few pieces of fresh basil and a bit of flaky sea salt and serve!

• Prep Time: 15 min
• Cook Time: 10 min