If you want to avoid cancer, it might be. Tales of the miraculous cancer-busting properties of lycopene, the red pigment found in tomatoes and peppers, have been around for years. Recent research from the University of Illinois, however, has found that pairing it with the glucosinolates in broccoli makes it even more effective in controlling tumour growth in lab rats. While this is good news for rodents, isn't the pairing of sweet, acid tomatoes with shy, delicate broccoli a difficult trick to pull off? Texturally, the combination of slimy, pulpy tomato and fibrous, woody broccoli sounds like a match made in hell. Or is it?

At the healthy fast food chain Leon, the superfood salad combines blanched broccoli with raw diced tomatoes and seeds and sprouts. "With a lemony dressing, it tastes great," says co-founder Henry Dimbleby. "But cooked tomatoes and broccoli together sounds a bit wacky/woolly to me, something to go with mung bean salads and lentil bakes in the student food category."

Chris Horridge, head chef at the Michelin-starred Bath Priory Hotel, says his restaurant would combine the two, but only with lots of other vegetables in one big pot. "They seem an odd combination on their own," he says.

Not everyone is so cagey about cooking with the duo, however: Giorgio Locatelli enlists both ingredients in several pasta dishes, while Mark Jankel of London's Notting Hill Brasserie is also enthusiastic. "I think the combination works well - I've used it myself. We've done a starter of mussels cooked with white wine and tomato compote, which we then shelled and mixed with little steamed broccoli florets and raw diced tomatoes. Garnished with chives and tarragon, the combination of the yellow mussels with the red and green vegetables was beautiful." Sounds great. Maybe they should try it on the rats.