Broccoli, date and pistachio salad
Welcome to To Vegetables, With Love, a celebration of a vegetable life, less ordinary.
My book Tenderheart is available from Books are Magic, Kitchen, Arts and Letters, Book Larder, Bold Fork Books and also here or here.
This week,
wrote about brand endorsements as the only way to make money in food media. It was a timely article because, behind the scenes, it is a conundrum that many food writers like myself are constantly faced with. Being an ‘influencer’ is a role I have always struggled with. The phoney-ness of it all irks me. The idea that I would recommend a product to my audience, just because I’m being paid feels repugnant. But as Alicia asks, if this is the only way to make money while working in food “media”, what choice do we have?In the past I have done brand endorsements. Very few, but I have done them. Each time, it has only been for brands that I love, with products that I use and that I would buy myself. A few years ago, I was a brand ambassador for the olive oil brand Lucini. I worked with them for several months, developing recipes but also getting to know the people who worked there, the business, culminating in a trip to see an olive harvest in Argentina. Yes there were many perks - free olive oil (it’s delicious and I still buy it!), a trip to Mendoza, being paid for my time - but what I always loved about that partnership was not the oil, the trip or the money, but the experience of working closely with a brand and feeling like I was a part of a team. That’s a rare feeling for a freelancer.
The death knell for any brand endorsement negotiation is when I utter the words “I am looking for a meaningful partnership”. These words rarely resonate with PR agencies and brand execs. Most modern brand endorsements are about virality, short-lived fame, fast consumption. Aka, none of the things that interest me.
Nowadays, I don’t get offered nearly as many brand endorsements as I used to - those offers are probably going to the viral Tiktokkers - which is really fine by me. I am very picky. I also know what I’m good at, and a one-and-done post/reel is not my vibe. If brands want a meaningful partnership, then you know where to find me…I’m always open to working with brands I believe in.
Being a cookbook author, we often straddle the grey space between being a serious writer while also having a bit of influence. For me, it’s a rather uncomfortable place to exist. To the best of my ability, I try to use whatever sway I have to share the books that I like, the brands that I’m enjoying, and snippets of my food life that others might enjoy too. I don’t share all the products I get sent, it would be impossible to, but I genuinely enjoy sharing the love for products/books/experiences that I believe in.
I’ll be honest here, I get offered a lot of free products. Another truth, I don’t accept most of it. My kitchen is small and my pantry is bursting. But every now and then, I get an offer I can’t refuse - like fresh dates.
Recently, two boxes of dates - one an heirloom collection featuring rare and unusual date varieties and the other voluptuous medjools - arrived from Rancho Meladuco Date Farm, a woman-owned business located in the Coachella Valley. One bite, then two, and I was hooked.
I don’t cook with dates much but I really enjoy it when I do. In my book TENDERHEART, I added dates to inject deep, caramel tones to my olive oil braised carrots, and used them to make a rich gingery sticky date pudding. But I know there is so much more potential.
A week after my dates arrived, out of nowhere, it seemed like dates were having a foodie moment. The New York Times Cooking Newsletter THE VEGGIE, written by Tanya Sichynsky, arrived with the headline It’s date night, highlighting many great date-centric recipes on their website.
Spurred by date possibilities, I started envisioning a broccoli and date salad. Similar to this beloved broccoli salad which I developed for NYT Cooking a few years ago, I use chopped up broccoli, but unlike that salad, where the broccoli is raw, I decided to give then a quick toss in a skillet, just to take off the raw edge and coax out a little more flavour. I contemplated a tahini dressing, but ended up opting for a ras el hanout spiced vinaigrette (you can use other spices, see recipe below). There is not one definitive recipe for ras el hanout - each family will have their own blend - but common spices are cumin, cardamom, clove, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, ginger, coriander, peppercorns and more. It’s a heady spice, intense and warming, and pairs particularly well with syrupy dates.
Like my NYT broccoli salad, this one stores well and keeps getting better. I made it on Monday and ate it for dinner for the next 4 nights. One night I added some leftover crumbled tofu I found in the fridge, another time I added some avocado. the dates soften over the days and loving coat the broccoli and beans. Each mouthful is a reward.
COOK / EAT / SHARE
My latest on NYT Cooking this week is a 5 ingredient keeper - Baked tomato pasta with harissa and halloumi. You can probably guess the five ingredients from the recipe title. Pantry staples for the win!
The Miso leeks with white beans on NYT Cooking has been super popular! Thank you to everyone who has tried it so far, I think it’s perfect for the transitional weather right now. I am also receiving excellent feedback about the halloumi cutlet with cabbage slaw - the other night, I got a text from friend with the excellent feedback “it's very doable on a Thursday night with a late start”.
DO YOU LIKE TEMPEH? Tempeh is one of the few veg-friendly ingredients I didn’t love until recently. That is until I worked out that it benefits from high heat cooking (either baked in the oven or in a skillet on the stove top), with generous flavoring. I usually toss tempeh cubes in a marinade - either soy sauce-black vinegar based, or olive oil with spices - and roast it at 220˚C / 425˚F for 10-15 minutes until caramelized around the edges. For fellow tempeh enthusiasts, check out this stunning pineapple-gochujang tempeh recipe by my friend
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THIS WEEK’S RECIPE
Broccoli, date and pistachio salad
© Hetty Lui McKinnon for To Vegetables, With Love
If you like, you could skip the quick cook and use the broccoli raw (like I do in my NYT Cooking recipe) but I quite like the sweetness that comes from a quick toss in the pan.
If you don’t have dates, you could go for dried fruit like raisins (sultanas), apricots, cranberries or figs – I would soak them in a couple tablespoons of water, orange juice or 1 part vinegar mixed with 3 parts water to rehydrate them and make them plump and juicy.
Serves 4
600g (21-ounces) broccoli
extra virgin olive oil
sea salt and black pepper
1 x 425g tin cannellini beans or chickpeas, drained (drained weight 250g)
1/3 cup (80g) toasted pistachios or almonds, roughly chopped
12 regular dates or 6 medjool dates, pitted and torn
handful chopped coriander/cilantro leaves
handful mint leaves
Spiced vinaigrette
2 teaspoon ras el hanout, baharat or curry powder (or a single spice like ground cumin, coriander, turmeric)
2 tablespoons white wine or champagne vinegar
1/4 cup (60ml) extra virgin olive oil
1 small shallot (eschalot), thinly sliced
1 clove garlic, finely grated
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon red chilli/pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
In a bowl, combine the as el hanout, baharat or curry powder, vinegar, olive oil, shallot, garlic, maple syrup, red chilli/pepper flakes and salt. Stir to combine. Set aside to allow the shallots to soften.
Finely chop the broccoli flowers. Remove the woody exterior of the stalk and then finely chop it and add to the rest of the broccoli.
Heat a large frying pan (skillet) on medium high for 2 minutes. When hot, drizzle with olive oil and add the broccoli, season with 1/2 teaspoon of salt and lots of black pepper and toss for 2 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl.
To the broccoli, add the beans or chickpeas, pistachio, and dates. Add the dressing and toss to evenly distribute. Add the herbs, season with salt and black pepper and toss again.
Storage: The salad can be prepped ahead and stored in the fridge for up to 5 days.
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🥦 My cookbook, Tenderheart is for cooking vegetables, all year round. Pick up your copy here. It is also mostly vegan (or vegan-izable) and gluten-free adaptable.
Thanks so much for reading and thoughtfully engaging with that piece, Hetty! I love your approach and your articulation of these nuances.
I’d like to say that I’m 100% available to endorse dates, too 😂
Totally agree about Medaluco dates. They are amazing.