Mom, can you please make….broccoli ?!?!?

My Kid’s Favorite Vegetable Recipe

My kids were pretty ambivalent about broccoli for a long time.  They would eat it but only as much as I put on their plate and it usually required a little cheese sauce to quiet the beasts.  Now, I have a cheese sauce made with Brommel and Brown spread, fat-free milk and low-fat cheese, so I didn’t feel too bad but there was never excitement for dinner where broccoli was concerned.

UNTIL I ROASTED IT!!  Yum! 

You would have thought I had discovered a whole new vegetable.   Last weekend we were having a small celebratory dinner for success with  basketball teams and math contest teams and when asked what they wanted for a vegetable, the kiddos requested broccoli.   Now, it has to be this recipe but that is fine!  They will even walk by and snag pieces out of the bowl while we are setting the table or finishing up the rest of dinner.  This recipe is pretty free-form … adjust for your tastes and the amount of broccoli you are using.  Here is a basic recipe to start with.

Roasted Broccoli

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.  Chop one large bunch of broccoli into florets.  Leave a good bit of the stalk – it tastes good!  Place all of the broccoli on a baking sheet.  Chop 2 to 3 cloves of  garlic and add to the broccoli.  Toss with olive oil to lightly coat all of the broccoli and garlic – 1 to 2 tablespoons.  Sprinkle with a little salt. Roast the broccoli until the tips just start to brown or until your desired crunchiness.  Remove from the oven and top with the juice of half a lemon and a little fresh parmesan cheese.  Toss and serve.  Enjoy!

Note the bottle of Cupcake brand wine that snuck into the back of the picture – if you haven’t tried it yet, you should!  I’m a big fan of the Sauvignon Blanc but I think all of them are probably good.  And inexpensive!!  A bonus tip for a Thursday .

~ Mildly Manic Mom