Many of my favorite recipes have some history behind them. A traditional family recipe, something I had at a friend's house, or a recipe I collected while traveling.
But then, there are some recipes I love just because they are awesome. Like this one.
I am not a huge veggie eater. I try. I do. Most of the time, though, I have to choke down a couple of bites for the sake of the vitamins. But between me and my husband, we'll eat an entire head of broccoli cooked this way. It's SOOO yummy.
The inspiration for this recipe came from a little two-sentence description in a magazine (Fine Cooking I think?), but there was no actual recipe, measurements or instructions. But I was intrigued. This looked like a vegetable recipe that I could be friends with. So I tweaked and played with amounts, and I came up with the following recipe.
Delicious, gorgeous bright green, and oh, yeah -- good for you.
So let me share with you my broccoli recipe. Just because it's awesome.
The Step-by-Step
Cut up the broccoli and toss with oil
Preheat oven 400F (200C). Take a head of broccoli. Cut it up in bite sized pieces.
Throw the broccoli in a mixing bowl and drizzle with oil. Stir it all up.
Now spread the broccoli out on a baking sheet. (I like to line with foil. Because I hate to wash dishes.) Bonus points if your foil has little stars on it.
Put that in the oven on the top rack.
Now grab your mixing bowl that you just used (no need to wash it). Whisk together the soy sauce, brown sugar, rice vinegar and sesame oil. Toss in the sesame seeds. You can toast them first if you like. I like.
As you are whisking your glaze, keep checking in on your broccoli. It makes them feel loved. When they start getting nice and browned on the ends, you can go ahead and pull them out. If you like your broccoli a little less crisp, you can leave it in a few more minutes.
Put the roasted broccoli in the bowl with the glaze ingredients and toss it all up together.
Hopefully you've got the rest of your dinner ready to go, because you need to serve this immediately, while the broccoli is still hot and has a bit of crunch to it.
Now enjoy your awesome broccoli.
The Recipe
Roasted Sesame Broccoli
Makes 2-4 servings
1 head broccoli
Oil for drizzling
2 Tablespoons rice vinegar
2 Tablespoons brown sugar
3 Tablespoons soy sauce
3 Tablespoons sesame oil
1 Tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
Preheat the oven to 400F (200C).
Cut up the broccoli into bite-sized pieces and toss with oil in a mixing bowl.
Spread the broccoli on a baking sheet in a single layer, and roast in the oven on the top rack until the tips begin to brown.
In the mixing bowl, whisk the remaining ingredients. Put the roasted broccoli in the bowl when it comes out of the oven, and toss it to coat with the glaze. Serve immediately.
