The Ingredient I Add to My Broccoli to Make It Healthier

Broccoli is a famously healthy vegetable in its own right, and as a member of the Brassica vegetable family, it is even considered a superfood by many. However, did you know that you can make broccoli even healthier with the addition of just one delicious ingredient? 

I first learned about this concept earlier this year during my plant biology class at UC Berkeley, and now it informs how I prepare my greens. One of our lessons focused on cooking, and how the process of cooking, whether by temperature, altering the pH, or salinity, changes the nutritional makeup of fruits and vegetables. And while I knew that cooking obviously alters the flavor of a vegetable, I learned that in the case of Brassica vegetables—kale, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, turnips, Brussels sprouts, and collard greens—cooking can actually cause the loss of health compounds that may help protect you from various diseases and ailments.

Luckily, I also learned a fascinating tip about how you can add some of these compounds back into your cooked broccoli and other veggies. The method, which I use each time I cook broccoli and the like, is suspiciously easy. All you need to do is add ground mustard seed to your broccoli once you’ve finished cooking it. Keep reading for the science behind my favorite broccoli hack!

How Does Cooking Affect Nutritional Content?

According to Dr. Patrick Shih, an assistant professor at UC Berkeley, the reason why broccoli regains many of its innate nutrients when it’s prepared with ground mustard seed is all thanks to an enzyme called myrosinase, which is naturally found in broccoli but breaks down once the veggie is cooked. “The health compounds are made when an inert molecule (such as glucosinolate, which is present in broccoli) is put in contact with myrosinase,” Dr. Shih explains. “The myrosinase converts the glucosinolates into a huge diversity of compounds, many of which have associated health-related effects.”

He adds, “When we cook our vegetables, one thing that happens at high temperatures is that the enzymes [like myrosinase] begin to fall apart. Without the enzymes around, we won’t have access to those health compounds.” In other words, once the characteristic properties of myrosinase are destroyed via the cooking process, we lose out on compounds in broccoli and similar veggies that can protect us from cancer, diabetes, kidney and cardiovascular disease, neurodegenerative disorders, and ocular disorders. 

Why Mustard Seed?

So, what does ground mustard seed have to do with myrosinase and the health compounds in broccoli? Per Dr. Shih, due to ground mustard seed’s own chemical properties, the ingredient adds back myrosinase when cooked with broccoli, thus restoring many of the veggies’ touted nutritional benefits.

“Mustard seeds, many times, are dehydrated at a low enough temperature that doesn’t denature the myrosinase. Think of ground mustard seed as a form of suspended animation,” he explains. “When we add water to it, it can wake up with properly functioning myrosinases. If we add mustard seeds to a Brassica vegetable, something like broccoli or broccoli sprouts, we will be able to give it an extra dose of myrosinases to make sure that we have a higher conversion to the health compounds.” Plus, it tastes pretty good too. 

In other words, adding ground mustard seed to broccoli just after it has finished cooking restores the myrosinase that is naturally lost during the cooking process, thus making broccoli that’s prepared with ground mustard seed healthier than your standard plate of the cooked vegetable.

How to Add Mustard Seed to Broccoli 

Now that you know how and why ground mustard seed gives cooked broccoli a nutrient boost, you might want to cook your broccoli with ground mustard seed going forward. Thankfully, it’s very easy to do, and doesn’t add any cooking time to the final product.

Once your broccoli is cooked—be it roasted, sauteed, steamed, or even grilled—simply toss the finished product with a teaspoon of ground mustard seed to reactivate the myrosinase and fully restore those broccoli health benefits. So long as the ground mustard seed is present, you can also cook your broccoli with salt, olive oil, and garlic, and anything else that might make it even tastier.