There’s a joke in the delicious.  team that we keep looking out for the next kale trend so that this time we can kill it before it takes hold.

We’re all, however, far happier now that broccoli seems to be replacing kale as Australia’s sexiest green. It might be hated by US presidents, but here dependable broccoli is gaining cachet again thanks to a raft of enticing newways to use those ‘trees’ dreaded by  many a five-year-old.

Broccoli might be ‘back’, but in my house it never went away. It’s like the magic pudding of vegetables – open the crisper draw and it’s always there. I might steam it to go with chops or crisp-skinned salmon. Or perhaps I’ll throw it in a stir-fry – ideally, a stir-fry of just broccoli with black bean sauce and beef fillet tossed in at the last minute.

Then there are the clichéd, if reliable, yawns – broccoli soup, broccoli quiche or frittata, or the Calabrian pasta dish of florets poached with orecchiette while it cooks, then drained and tossed with anchovies and chilli.

We’re here today, however, for the explosion of new broccoli ideas, whether that’s using it to turn cauliflower cheese into a green Hulk version, tossed with crisp roast chilli oil and baked on puffy homemade pizza dough, or making a ‘hummus’ of blanched broccoli blitzed with grated parmesan, toasted almonds, lemon juice, garlic and olive oil. This works as happily on morning toast or dolloped on steamed white fish as it does tossed with spaghetti like a pesto or adding a touch of creaminess in roast chicken wraps. And there are plenty more ideas where they came from.

Broccoli slaw
A great addition to a chicken wrap or schnitzel or pork katsu sando is a broccoli slaw. This is just a matter of tossing very thinly sliced broccoli florets and equally wafer-thin slices of Brussels  sprouts with chopped quality anchovies, shaved parmesan and toasted almonds. Dress with an olive oil vinaigrette or Japanese mayo and a little lemon juice. Yes, you keto-types can leave out the carbs and just serve the chicken and slaw on a plate if you want.

Broccoli caesar
Broccoli’s unlikely love affair with anchovies also makes it an inspired substitute in a sort of winter take on a warm Caesar salad. Lose the cos lettuce and replace it with roast broccoli florets tumbled with garlic sourdough croûtons(done in the oven while the broccoli is roasting), shards of crisp prosciutto (also done in the oven at the same time), thin slices of parmesan, and soft-poached or hard-boiled eggs. Dress this generously with your favourite Caesar dressing and loads of black pepper. This is so much better if the dressing is anchovy-heavy.

Exotically broccoli
Don’t sneer but tossing broccoli in a yoghurt and tandoori marinade and then cooking it slowly on the barbecue is actually rather special, as is using the steamed stems instead of chicken in a vegetarian (or potentially vegan) kung pao loaded with peanuts, dried chilli and quills of spring onion or rounds of slicedleek. At its easiest, this is all cooked off, after stir-frying, in an alluring sweet and sour sauce of black vinegar, Chinese wine, soy sauce and sugar. Ginger, garlic, five-spice and crushed Sichuan peppercorns can all be employed to amp up the flavour, but keep the spicing subtle and add chunks of celery and red capsicum when initially stir-frying the chopped broccoli stems to bulk up the dish for a family.

Barbecued fish and broccoli
Many of our favourite new-age broccoli recipes revolve around broccoli singed on the barbecue. One of my favourites is  based on a recipe by Yotam Ottolenghi’s old head chef Ramael Scully, who now has his own restaurant in London. Cut two large heads of broccoli into thick steaks. Microwave these till they’re just softened, then pat them dry, toss in oiland grill them on a hot barbecue to char their edges. Serve them with ocean trout cooked on baking paper on the barbecue grill plate. Dress them with sesame seeds (or furikake), lemon zest, finely sliced pickled ginger and Ramael’s miso and tahini dressing. Warm together 180ml sake, 140ml mirin, 80g white miso and 2 tbs caster sugar, then stir in 80ml of tahini (see the recipe on here).

Winter broccoli bowl
Okay, we all know the #blessed bowl craze is over – so over that it makes spats and Morse code look on point – but loading a helping of barley, brown rice or farro that’s been cooked in stock with steamed or grilled florets of broccoli that have been tossed in a little soy, sliced smoked almonds and hot-smoked salmon, then topping it allwith stripes of buttery broccoli-stem purée hit with a fair amount of lemon makes for a pretty gorgeous dinner.

For a vegan version, toss the florets in toasted nutritional yeast powder and sunflower seeds, blanched beans and sugar snaps or snow peas scorched on the barbecue and tossed in coconut amino (or tamari depending how hardcore you want to be). Use soaked and blitzed cashews in the purée.

Find even more reasons to love broccoli with our dedicated recipe collection.