Tenderstem Broccoli (Broccolini) Potato Salad

This tenderstem broccoli (broccolini) potato salad is made with Jersey Royal potatoes and a tangy, light, creamy dressing. It’s pretty much the perfect side for your next barbecue or brunch buffet. 

Like quite a few of you, I imagine, I belong to a bunch of Facebook groups. One I get a particular kick out of is affiliated with the great food magazine, delicious. published in the UK. Members share their recent dish photos, many from the magazine, and if we are lucky, they include a link to the magazine’s website with the recipe. 

I saw the inspiration for this salad there. Full disclosure, I’m one of the volunteer moderators so I can tell you that we’d love to have you join our happy band of delicious. food lovers. And if you haven’t perused their website yet, you are in for a treat. So many gorgeous recipes. 

A note about the name of the green vegetable. A cross between gai lan and broccoli, in the UK it’s called tenderstem broccoli but in the US, the name broccolini was trademarked in a cooperative agreement between the Japanese developer and Mann Packing Company, its first US distributor. In one of my past lives, I interviewed Gina Nucci, one of the then owners at Mann’s (twitter handle @ginabroccolini🤣) and learned all about it. She was an absolute delight. 

Tenderstem Broccoli (Broccolini) Potato Salad 

This salad can be made a day ahead and refrigerated overnight so it’s great for bringing to a potluck. As mentioned above, mine is an adaptation of this one from delicious. magazine. It was published in the May 2023 issue. 

Ingredients

1 lb  or 450g Jersey Royals or new potatoes, smaller ones left whole, larger ones halved

2 teaspoons fine sea salt, plus more for seasoning the salad at the end

7 oz or 200g tenderstem broccoli

1 tablespoon white wine vinegar

2 green onions aka spring onions

2 tablespoons mayonnaise

1 tablespoon crème fraiche, sour cream or plain Greek yogurt

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

Freshly ground black pepper

Method

Scrub your new potatoes clean (usually the skins rub right off so there’s no need to peel them) and pop them in a pot with water to cover by a couple of inches. Add the salt and bring the pan to the boil. 

Cook the potatoes for about 12-15 minutes or until just tender.

Trim and discard any dry ends off of your tenderstem broccoli and split any thick stems in half.  

Finely mince the white part of the green onions, then slice the green part. Set aside some of the green parts for garnish.

In a mixing bowl, measure in the vinegar, then add the whites of the spring onions to marinate. This takes some of the sharp bite out of the onion and flavors the vinegar. 

When the potatoes are just tender, add the tenderstem broccoli to the pot and continue cooking for 3 minutes more. Drain in a colander and set aside to cool. (If you leave them in the hot pot, the broccoli may overcook.)

Arrange the broccoli on a serving plate.

Whisk the mayonnaise, crème fraiche (or substitute) and mustard into the onion/vinegar bowl. 

Add the green parts of the green onions and the slightly warm potatoes. 

Mix together until the potatoes are well coated with the dressing. Season with a sprinkle of fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper and stir again. 

Spoon the dressed potatoes on top and around the broccoli. The dressing will drip down and dress the broccoli too, in a most delightful manner. Sprinkle on the reserved green onion for garnish. And perhaps just a few more grinds of black pepper. 

Serve warm or allow to cool, then chill. 

If you are serving it cold, bring it out of the refrigerator about 30 minutes before serving so it’s not too cold. 

Enjoy! 

Love broccolini in salads? You might also enjoy my Broccolini Chicken Pear Blue Cheese Salad. It serves two as a main and four as a starter. We love it. 

It’s Sunday FunDay so that means I’m joining my fellow bloggers and sharing recipes we hope your family will enjoy. This week’s theme is Salads Galore! Many thanks to our host, Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm. Check out all the lovely salads below: 

• A Day in the Life on the Farm: BYO Chef Salad Bar 
• Karen's Kitchen Stories: Fennel, Red Cabbage, Goat Cheese, & Citrus Salad
• Sneha's Recipe: Keto Coleslaw with Keto Thousand Island Dressing 
• Culinary Cam: Lahpet Thoke (Fermented Tea Leaf Salad) 
• Cook with Renu: Marinated Fig and Mozzarella Salad
• Mayuri's Jikoni: Pasta & Sweet Potato Salad 
• The Mad Scientist's Kitchen: Pasta Salad 
•  Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice: Spicy Mojito Cucumber Salad 
• Food Lust People Love: Tenderstem Broccoli (Broccolini) Potato Salad 
• Amy's Cooking Adventures: Vegetarian Greek Salad with Chickpeas

 

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

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Black Pepper Beef with Broccoli and Noodles

A one-pot Chinese style dish, Black Pepper Beef with Broccoli and Noodles would be a delicious (and thrifty) addition to your Chinese New Year celebration menu.

Black pepper beef with broccoli and noodles is a combination of two delicious dishes: a black pepper beef recipe I learned about in Malaysia and the ubiquitous beef and broccoli found on every Chinese restaurant menu in the United States. Plus, to make this a full meal dish, I’ve added fresh egg noodles. With this recipe, just a pound or so of lean beef can feed a family of four a healthy, tasty meal.

If you’ve ever read my About Me page, you know that I’ve lived in quite a few cities and in almost as many countries. As we move on to the next place, there are always local dishes that we’ve grown to love, no longer available to us in our new home city. In the homesickness of the first months, I cook the food we miss from the place we miss. And those recipes become part of our family repertoire forever.

When we lived in Kuala Lumpur, we frequented a Chinese restaurant call Mei Keng Fatt. We had a standard order that always included black pepper beef. It’s a simple dish with almost equal amounts of beef, onions and bell pepper.

Mei Keng Fatt also added some crispy deep fried things that we never quite figured out. Were they tofu? Sliced lotus root? Who knew? They were divine eaten while they were still crunchy so their arrival at the table started a flurry of chopsticks nabbing them quickly. Soon the black pepper beef plate was but a plate of bell pepper, nobody’s favorite part of the dish.

When I started making black pepper beef at home, it was never as a part of a greater Chinese dinner. As much as I love eating out and having so many dishes to choose from and share, it was just not practical for our busy family home.

I began adding broccoli (and leaving out the bell pepper) to stretch that lean beef dish into a full meal. Often I’d serve it with steamed rice but fresh egg noodles, if you are fortunate enough to have a store nearby that stocks them, are a fabulous addition, making this a one-pot meal. If you don't have access to fresh egg noodles, use the Chinese-style dried ones or even normal linguine. I've substituted both of those successfully in this dish. 

Black Pepper Beef with Broccoli and Noodles

You can crush all of the peppercorns together, for the marinade and for finishing the dish with a mortar and pestle. Use 3/4 of it in the marinade and reserve the balance for sprinkling on the cooked dish. Don’t grind the peppercorns just crush them so they are coarse grain. 

Ingredients

For the marinade:

1 1/2 teaspoons or 6 grams whole black peppercorns, crushed

2 tablespoons oyster sauce

1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine (or substitute dry sherry)

2 teaspoons cornstarch

2 teaspoons soy sauce

2 teaspoons sesame oil

For the sauce:

2 tablespoons oyster sauce

1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine (or again, substitute dry sherry)

2 teaspoons soy sauce

2 teaspoons sesame oil

For the black pepper beef with broccoli and noodles:

1.1 lbs or 500g tenderloin or sirloin, cut into strips (like for stroganoff)

14 oz or 400g fresh yellow egg noodles

1 1/2 tablespoons canola or other light oil

2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

1/2 onion, peeled and cut into 1/4" wedges

1 small knob fresh ginger, peeled and minced

1 lb or 450g broccoli florets 

1 carrot, peeled and cut in matchsticks 

To garnish:

Green onions, chopped

1/2 teaspoon or 2g whole black peppercorns, crushed

Food Lust People Love: A one-pot Chinese style dish, Black Pepper Beef with Broccoli and Noodles would be a delicious (and thrifty) addition to your Chinese New Year celebration menu.

Add all of your marinade ingredients into a bowl with the beef. Stir well to mix and coat the beef. Set aside to marinate for at least 15 minutes. I usually do this step first, then prep the other ingredients, so the beef marinates for at least 30 minutes.

 

Mix your sauce ingredients together in another small bowl and set aside. 

Cook the egg noodles according to package instructions being careful not the cut or break them. According to Chinese superstition, the longer the noodles you eat are, the longer the lifespan you will enjoy. Drain and rinse with cold water until they are cool and all the excess starch is removed. Set aside in the colander to drain. 

Heat a wok or cast iron skillet over high heat until hot. Add the oil, and then immediately add the beef. Quickly spread the beef out so it is in a single layer. Leave to cook on high until the pieces start to brown and caramelize on the bottom, about 5 minutes. Do not stir or move the beef until it’s well browned. 

Add the garlic, ginger, onions, and stir-fry for a minute or two. 

Add the broccoli and continue stir-frying. Keeping stirring and cooking until the broccoli has almost reached your desired tenderness. We like it pretty crunchy. If you need to drizzle in a little water, do so. 

Add in the cooled noodles and tip the sauce on top. 

Use two stirring implements and a gentle tossing motion (like tossing salad) to mix the noodles and sauce thoroughly into the broccoli and beef. 

Cook for just a minute or two, until the noodles are warmed through then mix in the matchstick carrots. 

Remove from the heat and sprinkle with the remaining crushed black pepper. Garnish with chopped green onions. 

This dish is best served immediately but I have also been known to eat leftovers, warmed gently in the microwave the next day. Still delicious. 

Enjoy! 

It's Sunday FunDay again and my fellow bloggers are sharing recipes to celebrate Chinese aka Lunar New Year. Check out the links below. Many thanks to our host, Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm. 

• Black Pepper Beef and Broccoli with Noodles by Food Lust People Love 
• Chinese New Year Skillet by Making Miracles 
• Easy Chicken Egg Rolls by A Day in the Life on the Farm 
• Lion's Head Meatballs by Amy's Cooking Adventures
• Lucky Duck, Gold Bars, and Longevity Noodles by Culinary Adventures with Camilla 
• Mongolian Lamb by Palatable Pastime
• Pan Fried Crispy Tofu Bowl by Cook with Renu
• Steak Fingers With Steamed Rice by Sneha's Recipe 
• Sticky Asian Baked Wings with Honey by Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice
• Stir-fried Clams in Bean Sauce by Karen's Kitchen Stories

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

Pin this Black Pepper Beef and Broccoli with Noodles!

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