Warm Charred Broccoli Salad with Ground Lamb and Lemon
Blanched broccoli florets charred in the lamb fat and tossed hot with crumbled browned lamb, shallot, olives, and mint, dressed with the pan juices.
Why You'll Love This Recipe
This is a warm salad, which is a shape I wish more people cooked at lunchtime. The dressing is the pan, so there is nothing to whisk and nothing to store, and the whole thing takes about twenty five minutes from a cold stove. Broccoli is the vegetable most people have decided they already know, usually because they have only ever had it steamed into softness. Charred hard in lamb fat it is a different vegetable entirely, sweet at the edges and still firm in the stem. It travels well too. Packed warm into a container it settles into something closer to a marinated salad by noon, and it holds up far better than any leafy salad does once it has been dressed.
Two things decide whether this works. First, blanch the florets for two minutes and then dry them properly, because a wet floret steams in the pan and never takes on any color, and those two minutes are what get the stems tender before the outsides burn. Second, brown the lamb hard and then leave it alone. Ground lamb releases a lot of fat and a lot of water, and if you stir it every twenty seconds you get a gray steamed crumble with none of the dark crusty bits that make this taste like something. Press it flat, wait four minutes, then break it up. Keep about two tablespoons of the fat, since that is your dressing and it is what the broccoli chars in.
Everything else happens off the heat and quickly. Lemon juice and zest, mint, parsley, and the olives all go in while the pan is still hot enough to open them up but not hot enough to dull the herbs. The oregano is the one dried thing in the recipe and it goes in earlier, rubbed between your fingers into the lamb fat where it has a chance to soften. What you end up with is rich and sharp in the same bite, with charred sweet florets against the soft meat. It holds you through an afternoon in a way a cold salad rarely does, and it is just as good at room temperature two hours later.
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 lb ground lamb
- 1 1/2 lb broccoli (2 large crowns), cut into small florets, stems peeled and sliced
- 2 shallots, thinly sliced
- 3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
- 1/3 cup pitted kalamata olives, halved
- 3 tbsp fresh lemon juice, plus the zest of 1 lemon
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh mint
- 3 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp fine sea salt, divided
Instructions
- Prep everything first: Cut the broccoli into small florets no wider than an inch so they sit flat in the pan. Peel the thick outer skin off the stems with a knife and slice them into coins. Slice the shallots and garlic thin, halve the olives, and chop the mint and parsley. This dish moves fast once the lamb is in the pan, so have it all within reach.
- Blanch and dry the broccoli: Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a hard boil, add the florets and stem coins, and cook for exactly 2 minutes. Drain them well and spread them out on a clean towel in a single layer to steam dry for about 5 minutes. They should be bright green and still firm.
- Brown the lamb through: Heat a large skillet over medium-high. Add the ground lamb, press it into a flat layer with a spatula, season with 1/2 teaspoon of the salt, and leave it undisturbed for 4 minutes until the underside is deeply browned. Break it into rough pieces and cook 4 minutes more, until the thickest pieces show no pink when you open them, which is 160°F. Spoon off any fat beyond about 2 tablespoons and lift the lamb into a bowl.
- Add the shallot, garlic, and oregano: Lower the heat to medium and add the shallots to the fat in the pan. Cook 2 minutes until they soften and turn translucent at the edges. Add the garlic and the oregano, crushing the oregano between your fingers as it goes in, and cook 45 seconds more, then scrape the shallot mixture in with the lamb.
- Char the broccoli: Turn the heat to high, add the olive oil, and spread the dry broccoli out in the pan cut side down. Leave it undisturbed for 3 minutes, until dark spots form on the flat faces, then toss and cook 2 minutes more. Add the remaining salt and return the lamb and shallots to the pan for 1 minute to warm through.
- Finish off the heat: Take the pan off the burner and add the lemon juice, the lemon zest, the olives, the mint, and the parsley. Toss well, scraping any juices from the bottom of the pan over the broccoli, and taste for lemon. Serve warm, straight from the skillet or piled onto a platter.
Variations
- Brussels sprouts: Halve a pound and a half of sprouts, blanch 3 minutes, and char them cut side down for a nuttier, more autumnal bowl.
- Snap peas in spring: Blanch snap peas for 90 seconds and char them for 2 minutes only, so they keep their snap against the lamb.
- Oven route: Roast the raw florets at 425°F (220°C) for 20 minutes rather than blanching and charring, then toss them through the finished lamb.
- Greens underneath: Pile it over a handful of arugula or watercress so the leaves wilt slightly under the warm lamb.
- More garlic: Fry a second sliced clove in the oil until it is pale gold and crisp, and scatter it over the top at the end.
Storage & Leftovers
Leftovers keep in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days and are best eaten at room temperature rather than cold. Take the container out about 20 minutes before you want it so the lamb fat can soften, since it sets firm while chilled and dulls the lemon and the mint along with it.
To reheat, use a dry skillet over medium-high for 3 to 4 minutes, spread out and left alone for the first 2 so the charred faces pick back up. A microwave heats it through in 90 seconds but leaves the broccoli uniformly soft and slightly sulfurous, which is the one thing this dish is trying not to be.
This does not freeze. Broccoli turns watery and limp on thawing and the herbs go black. If you want a head start, blanch and dry the broccoli up to 2 days ahead and keep it in the refrigerator wrapped loosely in a towel, and the finished dish becomes a fifteen-minute job.
Notes & Tips
- Cut the florets small and flat: A floret with one flat side makes contact with the pan and chars. A round one rolls around and steams. Halve the bigger ones through the stem.
- Dry the broccoli properly: Wet broccoli hitting a hot pan drops the temperature and produces steam rather than color. Five minutes on a towel is the whole difference.
- Press the lamb flat: Contact with the pan is what makes the crust. A mounded pile of ground meat browns on almost none of its surface.
- Do not pour off all the fat: About 2 tablespoons is the dressing and the charring medium. Pour off the excess if the pan looks swampy, but keeping some is the whole point of a warm salad.
- Crush the oregano as it goes in: Rubbing dried oregano between your fingers breaks the leaves open and wakes up the oil in them. Straight from the jar it mostly tastes of dust.
- Herbs last, always: Mint browns within seconds on a hot burner. Off the heat it stays green and sharp, which is what balances the fat.
Nutrition & Mindful Eating
- Lamb, charred broccoli, and the lemon that hits them both are the whole idea here. The meat brings the richness, the florets keep enough firmness to give the bowl real texture, and the acid and herbs keep a fatty pan from ever tasting heavy.
- Ground lamb browns dark and fast and carries iron in the form the body absorbs most readily, along with zinc and B12. It is also the reason this holds you through a long afternoon rather than fading an hour after lunch.
- Broccoli blanched briefly and then charred keeps its shape and turns sweet where the pan has marked it. It holds a good amount of vitamin C and vitamin K, and the peeled stems carry as much fiber as the florets do while tasting sweeter than them.
- Mint and parsley go in by the handful here, closer to a salad green than a garnish at this quantity. Both carry chlorophyll and a little vitamin K, and both fade the moment they meet a hot burner, which is why they wait until the pan is off.
- Kalamata olives and lemon do the seasoning between them, salty on one side and sharp on the other, and the olives bring the same kind of monounsaturated fat that is in the olive oil. Salt and acid arriving in the same bite is what makes charred broccoli taste like more than a vegetable.
- As you eat, look for the darkest charred edges and notice how differently they taste from the paler pieces beside them, and let that small bit of attention slow the whole meal down.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use ground beef instead?
Yes, at the same weight. Beef is milder and slightly drier, so add an extra tablespoon of olive oil before the broccoli goes in. Ground turkey works too and wants a hotter pan, since it browns reluctantly and gives up almost no fat of its own to char the vegetables in.
Why blanch the broccoli if I am going to char it anyway?
Raw florets need so long in the pan to cook through that the outsides burn before the stems soften. Two minutes in boiling water gets the inside most of the way there, so the skillet only has to do the browning. Drying them afterward is just as important, since wet broccoli steams.
Can I make this the night before?
You can, and it becomes a different dish in a good way. The broccoli softens slightly and takes on the lemon and the lamb fat overnight, closer to a marinated salad. Hold back half the mint and stir it in fresh in the morning so there is something green and sharp on top.
Does this fit an AIP elimination phase?
It does. There are no grains, legumes, dairy, eggs, nuts, seeds, or nightshades here, and the seasoning is shallot, garlic, oregano, lemon, mint, and olives. Check that the olives are brined in salt and vinegar with no added spices, since some jars carry chili flakes or black pepper.