Oven Roasted Broccoli

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Roasted Broccoli with Panko bread crumbs and Parmesan.

I don't know what it's been like at YOUR grocery stores lately, but at my stores, there hasn't been much produce on sale lately, I have been able to find some pretty good buys on broccoli. Which reminded me, I promised recently to give you a delicious side dish recipe for roasted broccoli.

Up until a few months ago, I had tried nearly every other vegetable roasted: potatoes, carrots, parsnips, asparagus, sweet potatoes, green beans and even cauliflower. I don't know why I was a holdout on trying roasted broccoli. It didn't sound appetizing to me.

I was so wrong.

I used Alton Brown's recipe. This couldn't be much simpler, or much more delicious. I've tried it WITH parmesan cheese, and without parmesan cheese, and it's delicious both ways.

The only ingredient that is a little high falutin' is panko, which is a kind of Japanese flaked bread crumb, which makes for a crispier bite. But the first time I tried this recipe, I decided to use some bread crumbs that I had from a homemade loaf of bread that I needed to use up, and it was absolutely delicious as well. So if you don't have any panko sitting around, don't let that hold you back from trying this recipe.

I served this with Ginger Roasted Chicken the first time we had it, and it really was a perfect accompaniment for that dish, but now I serve it with whatever main course I have that needs a side dish. (Especially if I found a good buy on broccoli in the produce section like I did last week.)

I found that if I followed Alton's directions to pre-roast my panko crumbs for 2 minutes, that I kept burning them, so one minute in my oven (with my pan) is all that was necessary. I changed the time in this recipe to reflect that. Also, while I'm including the Parmesan in this recipe, I forgot to use it the first two times I made it, and never missed it once. So if you're out of Parmesan or wanting to cut a few calories wherever you can, feel free to omit the Parmesan. It's nice, but unnecessary.

Oven Roasted Broccoli

Ingredients

1 lb. of broccoli, rinsed and trimmed
2 T. olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 t. kosher salt
grinding of fresh pepper
1/3 c. panko bread crumbs (or homemade bread crumbs)
1/4 c. finely grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

Preheat oven to 425º. To prepare the broccoli, peel the broccoli of the tough outside stem. Then cut the stalk into slices 1/4" thick. Trim the florets into bite sized pieces. Toss the broccoli with the olive oil, minced garlic, salt and pepper in a large mixing bowl.

Spread the bread crumbs on a 13" jelly roll pan, and toast for about one minute. Remove the bread crumbs from the oven, and toss with the broccoli mixture. Spread the whole mixture onto the jelly roll sheet, and roast just until the broccoli is tender, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from the oven, and top with grated Parmesan, if you like.

With Ginger Roast Chicken and Elbow Macaroni with Tomatoes.

If you like the way that last picture looks, here's a link to the Ginger Roast Chicken and Elbow Macaroni with Tomatoes.

Have you ever tried roasted broccoli before?