Smoked Paprika, Black Beans and Sprouting Broccoli Salad

Purple sprouting broccoli is generally at its best in the spring months, so now’s a great time to make the most of it in your cooking!

This kind of broccoli brings an amazing combination of colour and crunch to a dish and is also, of course, rammed full of nutrients. The high vitamin and mineral count of broccoli, coupled with its exciting antioxidant count, make it an all round winner for your health.

Paprika is amongst my favourite spices but not one that I use all that often! Including paprika in a dish is such a great way to boost the flavour of that meal and it packs a subtle spicy punch without completely dominating the existing taste. As well as containing a range of vitamins, paprika also has a healthy dose of iron which is essential for carrying oxygen around the body.

Smoked Paprika, Black Beans and Sprouting Broccoli Salad

To quickly whip up this salad for four to six people, gather the following ingredients:

• 250g of purple sprouting broccoli
• 1 x 400g of tinned black beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 spring onions, thinly diced
• 1 avocado, cut into small chunks
• 1 tsp. smoked paprika
• 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
• 1 Tbsp. honey
• For the dressing:
• A handful of coriander
• A small handful of almonds, ideally soaked for a few hours
• Juice of 1 lime
• 2 Tbsp. almond milk

Method:

So, the first thing you need to do is bring a large pot of water to the boil and cook the broccoli for five minutes. Be careful not to overcook the broccoli so that you don’t lose too many of the nutrients.

After these five minutes are up, you should drain and rinse. Next, in a frying pan over a medium heat, combine the drained and rinsed black beans and then add in the smoked paprika, cumin and honey. You can then stir this together well and cook for five minutes.

In a large bowl, you can then combine the sprouting broccoli, seasoned black beans, spring onions, and avocado. Finally, combine the dressing ingredients in your food processor and blend. It will be a lovely, chunky dressing (tastes great too!) that you can coat the broccoli and bean salad well with.

This is one of my favourite salads of all time!