Burokkorii to mini tomato no gomaae / broccoli and grape tomatoes in sesame dressing

A little side dish to add green and red to your plate. It is very quick to make, as chopping and microwaving broccoli are basically all you need to do (other than preparing dressing, which is also very easy). Fresh tomatoes ensure a light taste for this gomaae, which sometimes can be a bit heavy.

1/2 of recipe:
93 calories; 3.9 g protein; 6.3 g fat; 6.3 g carbohydrate; 3.2 g net carbs; 27 mg sodium (with 50% reduced-sodium soy sauce); 8 mg cholesterol; 3.1 g fiber


<Ingredients>

Handful (approx. 70-80 g) broccoli (64 g in photo)
Handful cherry/grape tomatoes (37 g in photo)

For gomaae sesame dressing
1 tsp sake
1 tsp mirin
1 1/2 tbsp nerigoma or tahini
1/4 tsp soy sauce

<Directions>
1.

Cut broccoli into bite-size pieces.

2.

Place in microwaveable container, cover, and microwave for 30-40 seconds until desired softness is achieved.

Transfer to zaru strainer or plate to cool.

3.

Next, make gomaae sesame dressing.
In the same container used for broccoli, put sake and mirin, and microwave (without cover) for 5-10 seconds until boiling.

Add tahini and soy sauce, and mix well.

Gomaae dressing is ready. 

4.

When broccoli and dressing are cool (at least to room temperature), put broccoli into dressing, and mix well.

Add tomatoes, and mix well. 

Ready to serve.

<Notes>

• Avoid cooling cooked broccoli in water, as it makes broccoli soggy.
• Microwaving sake and mirin is optional. It is mainly to eliminate their alcohol content. Heating also makes mixing with tahini easier.
• The gomaae dressing above is a very basic version. Add any spice you like, such as ichimi togarashi, cayenne pepper, karashi mustard or ginger (julienned, grated, or juice only). Chili sauce, tobanjan chili bean paste or yogurt is also nice (although these add some sodium).
• Broccoli alone is first mixed with dressing, because putting lots of ingredients at once tends to leave some broccoli unflavored due to the minimal amount of dressing (another technique to prevent overconsumption of sodium).