Charred Broccoli and Lentil Bowl with Mustard Greens and Toasted Almonds
Broccoli blackened at the tips in a dry skillet, folded through warm lentils with wilted mustard greens, toasted cumin, and lemon, finished with chopped almonds and sesame seeds.
Why You'll Love This Recipe
Broccoli in a dry pan is the technique worth stealing from this recipe. No oil at first, a heavy skillet, high heat, and the florets left alone until the flat cut faces have gone properly black in patches. The sugars scorch rather than the water boiling off, and the flavor moves from grassy to nutty and almost sweet. Oil goes in afterward, along with the garlic. Once you have eaten broccoli cooked this way you stop steaming it, and this bowl exists mostly as a place to put a whole head of it. The pan has to be wide and the florets small, and that is the entire secret.
The rest is warm lentils, which soak up lemon and cumin the way barley soaks up dressing, and mustard greens torn into wide ribbons and stirred through at the end. Mustard greens have a horseradish sharpness raw that a minute in a hot pan turns into something much gentler, still peppery but easy to eat by the forkful. Almonds toasted until they smell warm and sesame seeds go over the top at the last second. The bowl is soft, then crunchy, then sharp, and each spoonful is a little different from the one before. Lemon goes in while the lentils are still warm, which is the only part of the timing that really matters.
I make this on a Sunday and eat it out of the refrigerator through Wednesday, warm from a pan on a cold day or straight out of the container on a warm one. It costs almost nothing to make, it does not depend on anything from a fish counter or a butcher, and it holds better than any salad. When I want it to go further I put a jammy egg on top or fold in a handful of feta, though it is good as it stands. It is the recipe I hand to people who tell me they are bored of what they take to work.
Ingredients
- 3 cups cooked brown or French lentils (from about 1 1/4 cups dry), warm
- 1 large head broccoli (about 10 oz of florets), cut into small florets with the stem peeled and sliced
- 1 bunch mustard greens (about 10 oz), stems trimmed, leaves cut into wide ribbons
- 1/2 cup whole almonds, toasted and roughly chopped
- 3 tbsp sesame seeds, toasted
- 2 shallots, sliced into thin rings
- 3/4 cup flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- 1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 3 tbsp lemon juice, plus the zest of 1 lemon
- 1 3/4 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- 1/4 tsp cayenne, or to taste
- 1/2 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
- 1/4 tsp fine sea salt
Instructions
- Cook the lentils: Simmer the lentils in unsalted water for twenty to twenty five minutes, until they are tender but still hold their shape when you press one against the side of the pot. Drain them and leave them in the sieve. Brown and French lentils both work here. Red lentils do not, since they collapse into puree.
- Char the broccoli in a dry pan: Heat a heavy skillet over high heat until a drop of water skitters. Add the broccoli in one layer with no oil at all, and leave it completely alone for three minutes, until the undersides are blackened in patches. Toss once, then leave it another two minutes. It should smell toasted and look scorched rather than browned evenly.
- Add the oil, garlic, and spice: Turn the heat to medium, add the olive oil, the sliced garlic, the cumin, the cayenne, and the black pepper, and stir for about ninety seconds, until the garlic is pale gold and the cumin smells warm and dusty. Keep everything moving, since spices scorch in hot oil in a matter of seconds.
- Wilt the mustard greens: Add the mustard green ribbons in two handfuls with the shallot rings and a splash of water, and stir for two minutes, just until the greens have collapsed to about a third of their volume and gone glossy dark green. Pull the pan off the heat while the stems still have some snap to them.
- Fold it together warm: Tip the warm lentils into a wide bowl, add the contents of the skillet, the lemon juice and zest, the parsley, and the salt, and fold gently so the broccoli does not break apart. Taste and add more lemon if it feels flat. Scatter the almonds and sesame seeds over the top just before it goes to the table so they stay crisp.
Variations
- Preserved lemon: Trade the lemon juice for a tablespoon of chopped preserved lemon rind, which makes the whole bowl saltier and more floral.
- Roasted rather than charred: Roast the broccoli at 450°F (230°C) for eighteen minutes if the pan is occupied, which gives you a rounder, less smoky result.
- Warm spice: Add a teaspoon of coriander seed, crushed, and a pinch of cinnamon along with the cumin for something closer to a spiced pilaf.
- Herb heavy: Double the parsley and add a half cup of chopped mint or dill at the end, which turns the bowl green and grassy.
Storage & Leftovers
This keeps four days in a sealed container, and the flavor deepens for the first two as the lentils take on the cumin and lemon. Keep the almonds and sesame in a separate small container and add them as you serve, since anything toasted goes soft overnight sitting against warm lentils.
Eat it cold straight from the refrigerator or warm it in a skillet over medium heat for three minutes with a tablespoon of water. The microwave is fine as well. Either way, a fresh squeeze of lemon and a little more parsley bring back the brightness that fades after a day or two.
The lentil base freezes for three months without the nuts and greens. Thaw it overnight in the refrigerator, then char a fresh head of broccoli and wilt fresh greens into it, which takes about ten minutes and gives you something that tastes made that day.
Notes & Tips
- Start the broccoli in a dry pan: Oil in a screaming hot skillet smokes and turns bitter before the broccoli chars. Oil goes in after, once the heat has come down.
- Dress the lentils while they are warm: Warm lentils drink up lemon and cumin. Cold ones sit there and the seasoning stays on the outside.
- Toast the almonds and sesame separately: Almonds want six to eight minutes in a 350°F (175°C) oven. Sesame seeds burn in that time, so give them two or three minutes in a dry skillet on their own.
- Keep the broccoli stem: Peeled and sliced into coins, the stem chars beautifully and tastes sweeter than the florets. Throwing it out costs you the best part.
Nutrition & Mindful Eating
- Lentils, broccoli, mustard greens, and a scatter of nuts and seeds cover most of what a lunch needs between them. The lentils bring the protein and the bulk, the two green vegetables bring the color and a surprising amount of calcium, and the almonds and sesame add the fat and the crunch that make it satisfying.
- Lentils hold their shape and their skins when you cook them properly, and each spoonful carries plant protein, folate, and iron along with the fiber that gives a bowl like this its staying power.
- Sesame seeds are among the richest sources of calcium in the pantry, and toasting them brings the oil to the surface so three tablespoons perfume a whole bowl. Almonds do similar work, adding calcium and vitamin E along with their crunch.
- Mustard greens carry the same peppery compounds as the cabbage family they belong to, and a minute in a hot pan softens that sharpness into something rounder while keeping the vitamin K and the deep color.
- Charring broccoli rather than steaming it changes the flavor completely, pushing it toward sweet and nutty, and the blackened tips are what make a bowl of lentils taste like a dish rather than a side. A bowl this full of legumes and greens holds you well into the afternoon.
- As you eat, look for the blackest pieces of broccoli and taste one on its own against a plain spoonful of lentils, and let the crunch of the almonds set a slower pace than a soft bowl would.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use canned lentils?
Yes, and it turns this into a twenty minute lunch. Use two cans, drained and rinsed well, and warm them through in the skillet at the end so they take on the cumin and garlic. They are softer than lentils you cooked yourself, so fold more gently.
My broccoli steamed instead of charring. What went wrong?
Either the pan was crowded or it was not hot enough. The florets need to sit in contact with hot metal with room between them, so use your widest skillet and cook in two batches if you have to. Wet broccoli is the other culprit, so dry it well after washing.
Mustard greens are too sharp for me. What else can I use?
Kale is the mildest swap and wants an extra minute in the pan. Collards work too, cut thinner. Spinach is the gentlest of all, though it collapses to almost nothing, so use twice as much and add it off the heat.
How do I make this more filling?
A jammy egg halved over each bowl is the easiest addition. A spoonful of thick yogurt stirred through works too, as does a handful of crumbled feta, which brings salt along with it and means you can skip the added salt in the last step.