Broccoli, sprouts, and a hot pan

Broccoli sprouts are small, peppery and easy to grow on a kitchen windowsill. The compound cooks talk about is sulforaphane, and the interesting part is how you cut and heat the plant.

What happens when you cut it

Broccoli and its relatives contain glucoraphanin. When the plant is cut or chewed, an enzyme called myrosinase turns that into sulforaphane. No cut, no reaction, which is why the prep matters.

Sprouts versus a head of broccoli

Three-day-old sprouts can contain 10 to 100 times more glucoraphanin than mature broccoli, according to the Johns Hopkins team that first measured it. Young plants concentrate it while they are small. As they grow, it thins out.

In the kitchen

Cooked broccoli: the mustard trick

Cooking stops myrosinase. To bring the reaction back: cook the broccoli, let it cool a little, sprinkle a pinch of mustard powder, and wait a few minutes before serving. Mustard seed has its own myrosinase, so the reaction happens on the plate. It also tastes good.

Chop first, cook later

Chop broccoli and leave it for around 40 minutes before cooking, so the reaction can start while the enzyme is still active.

Sprouts

Eat them raw and chew them. Scatter them over salads and sandwiches, or blend them into a drink.

Growing your own

You need: broccoli seeds sold for sprouting, a jar with a mesh lid, fresh water.

1. 1
   Soak the seeds overnight.
2. 2
   Drain and rinse twice a day.
3. 3
   Harvest after 3 to 5 days.
4. 4
   Refrigerate straight away and eat within 5 to 7 days.

Keep everything very clean. Raw sprouts can carry bacteria, so they are not advised for pregnant women, young children, older people or anyone with a weakened immune system.

How I use them

• ·Morning: a small handful of sprouts blended with berries
• ·Lunch: a handful on a salad
• ·Dinner: roasted broccoli with mustard powder

Two ideas

A green blend: broccoli sprouts, a cup of frozen blueberries, a banana, almond milk, a little honey.

Salad topping: fresh sprouts, shaved raw broccoli, toasted pumpkin seeds, an olive oil dressing.