Best Broccoli Ever

A few weeks ago I hinted at the best broccoli recipe ever. It’s my husband’s favorite and takes a simple ingredient and elevates it for any type of eater (vegetarian, vegan, carnivore, etc). It’s a riff on Italian style cooking which uses great olive oil to enhance an inexpensive seasonal vegetable into a great side dish. This broccoli recipe can be substituted with asparagus, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, broccolini or any other hearty vegetable.

Best Broccoli Ever

1 head of broccoli

1 fresh small red chili

4 cloves of garlic

¼ cup of olive oil

½ Lemon

Kosher salt

Bring a small 8-10” saucepot with water to a boil. While the water is heating, prepare the broccoli by cutting off the hard end of the stem. Then slice broccoli flowers lengthwise and leave a lot of the stem on. The stems are full of flavor and have a great texture to contrast the head. Place in your serving plate or shallow bowl.

Slice the garlic very thin legnth-wise or just chop into large chunks. Chop the red chili the same way. Fill a mixing bowl with ice water and reserve. Then add kosher salt to the boiling water and add the broccoli for 4-5 minutes. Once it is just barely cooked through, drain into a colander and add to the ice water to stop it from still cooking. Once the broccoli is bright green and cool, drain the broccoli back in the colander.

Place the same saucepot back on the stove and turn on the heat. Once all the water is evaporated, add the olive oil, garlic, and chili. Cook on low heat swirling the pot until the garlic is golden brown. Careful not to let the garlic burn! This should take 60-90 seconds. Add the broccoli to the pot and toss in the garlic chili oil for 30 seconds, using tongs as needed. Squeeze the lemon on top and then plate into the shallow bowl or plate.

Corn Succotash

It’s the end of summer. We just passed Labor Day and for the first time in a long time I am truly sad to see summer wind down. Living in the Bay Area for eight years I actually forgot about seasons! You see right now the weather is just about to become gorgeous in Northern California. They have an “indian summer” meaning that the warmest months are September and October. Now that I am living in the Pacific Northwest I feel a serious weather change. It cooled down substantially. Those days of 90 degrees are not coming back for many, many months. The other huge change is the sunlight! It was incredible to dine outside every night for the past two months and be out on the deck until 9 or 10 PM sitting under the stars, sharing a meal, and having great conversation. Now, by 8PM I’m too cold to be out there and tonight we actually ate… inside!

We still are using our outdoor grill because I refuse to not cook on there until the rain starts. I absolutely love the char on vegetables and fish. We had some Alaskan Salmon fillets and a home-run corn succotash. My favorite part? We used a bunch of last week’s leftover grilled zucchini that was on it’s way to the compost bin if we didn’t save it. Feel free to use fresh grilled or roasted zucchini and not wait a week to eat it up! 

Corn Succotash

Makes 4 servings

3 corn on the cob

2 Tb olive oil

1 Tsp kosher salt

Fresh ground pepper

1 zucchini

1 jalapeno

3 oz Cotija cheese, crumbled

½ lime

4-6 basil leaves (substitute cilantro if you like)

Light up the grill and heat to 350F or higher. Meanwhile, finely chop the jalapeno, cotija, and basil into a medium sized serving bowl. It’s all going into one bowl so family style works great here! Once the grill is very hot, grilled the zucchini and corn until charred but still have a crunch. If this is the peak of summer, these vegetables should be really fresh so you’ll want to taste that! Leave on the grill for 2-3 minutes per side.

Chop the zucchini into ¼” size pieces and holding the corn cobs vertically cut the corn kernels right into the serving bowl. Hit the entire bowl with the olive oil, lime, cracked pepper, and salt to taste and then give it a big stir. At this point, taste for seasoning and while still warm serve at the table. This succotash makes the perfect leftovers the next day to eat right out of the fridge!