Broccoli Candy

This is what 20 bucks gets you at the Market.

And the only reason it was that high was due to the stupid 6.99 Cuties.

We have been eating a ton of fruits and veggies this week but that is for another post! This post is for that huge one dollar bag of broccoli in the upper right hand corner. Half of it went into our Spicy Beef and Broccoli Stir Fry and I needed to use up the rest of it. We're going to a friend's school fund raiser tonight so I figured we'd be munching on some less than healthy food, this inspired me to make a super healthy lunch snack: roasted broccoli! Throw in the fact that it was an Alton Brown recipe (who the Mr. Lawyer has a huge man crush on) and we may have been fighting over the last pieces. Who ever thought we'd be fighting over broccoli?!

It was like broccoli candy: a little bit sweet, a little bit salty. The panko added a nice little crunch. I even shaved a few calories off and didn't use the whole amount of cheese. After about 1/8 cup everything looked pretty coated so I stopped adding it. I served it up with some whole wheat pitas from Feders.

Oven Roasted Broccoli

(from Alton Brown, Food Network)

Ingredients:
1 pound broccoli, rinsed and trimmed
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup panko bread crumbs
1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan or sharp Cheddar
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
2. Cut the broccoli florets into bite size pieces. Cut the stalk into 1/8-inch thick, round slices. Place the broccoli into a mixing bowl and toss with the olive oil, garlic, kosher salt and pepper and set aside.
3. Spread the panko into a 13 by 9-inch metal cake pan and place into the oven for 2 minutes or until lightly toasted. Remove the panko from the oven and add to the bowl with the broccoli mixture. Toss to combine. Return the mixture to the cake pan, place in the oven and roast just until the broccoli is tender, 8 to 10 more minutes.

4. Remove from the oven, toss in the cheese and serve immediately.