chinese mushrooms and broccoli

today is the start of the uk national vegetarian week. i’m not a vegetarian but i do try and make sure that we eat lots of vegetables (and fruit), aiming for 7 or more portions a day, rather than the paltry 5 that is recommended here in the uk. we also eat vegetarian meals regularly, as is shown by the fact that this is the largest category of recipes on this blog at the moment!

this week, as part of vegetables, beautiful vegetables i want to post some of the lovely vegetarian dishes that i’m cooking in the hope that it inspires people to try some new things as well as share their ideas (if you have afood blog, please get involved!).

this chinese mushrooms and broccoli dish is a great example of something that can be pulled together really quickly. it would be fantastic as a quick supper with noodles (or rice if you prefer), but we had it as side dish with some chicken thighs that had been smeared with red thai chilli paste and left to marinate overnight before they were roasted.

chinese mushrooms and broccoli (serves 1 as a main, or 2 as a side dish)

1 small head of broccoli, cut into bite-size florets

2 dried shitake mushrooms

1 handful of dried wood ear mushrooms

1 teaspoon vegetable oil

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

1cm piece of ginger, finely chopped

½ red chilli, finely chopped

1 tablespoon vegetarian oyster sauce

sesame seeds

cover the dried mushrooms with boiling water and leave to soak until they soften (about 15 minutes). when they are ready, remove any inedible hard bits and chop roughly.

put the broccoli in a pan, cover with boiling water, bring to the boil and then turn the heat off, leaving the broccoli in the water for 5-10 minutes until it is almost cooked.

heat the oil in a pan and add the garlic, ginger and chilli. when they have begun to soften add the mushrooms and fry over a medium heat for 5 minutes. add the drained broccoli and oyster sauce and cook for another 5 minutes