I’m not a broccoli fan.  Except for the occasional raw florets, or if it’s in stir-fry or pasta salad.  You just won’t find me with a heaping pile of steamed broccoli on my plate.  Except when I’m pregnant.  Then I’ll eat it every night– steamed with some melted cheese on it…mmmm.  I absolutely craved it!  But we all know there’s no chance of me becoming pregnant again, so no worries there.

Ha!

But I digress.  Broccoli.  Nobody in our house likes it.  Brooke used to eat it raw, but she doesn’t like it any more, I think as a result of her siblings vocal expressions of dislike when it IS served.

A Facebook friend of mine recently posted a Roasted Broccoli recipe that everyone has been raving about.  So Sunday I bought a head of broccoli and told the kids we were going to try something new!

And we did….

I made half with the cheese and lemon (cuz I knew I’d hear complaints about the parmesan cheese as well), the other half I made without.   It sure smells good while it’s cooking- of course anything with olive oil, salt and garlic smells good!

The consensus?

Everyone took a floret (non-lemon/cheese), with a bit of hesitation…Trevor said “no way, do not make that again”.  Riley said, “It’s OK.  I like it better with the lemon”.  Brooke didn’t seem to have an opinion, yet she took seconds.  

My opinion: I prefer the no lemon/cheese version.  Tastes like roasted potatoes- sort of.  I really liked it and ended up eating the whole plate myself! 

So here is the recipe, in it’s original form:

ROASTED BROCCOLI

2 big bunches of broccoli- cut into florets on cookie sheet, do not wash- keep it dry
Heat oven to 425
drizzle 5 tablespoons olive oil
sprinkle 1/2 to 1 tablespoon of kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon or more ground pepper
place 4 or more garlic cloves around cookie sheet
roast in oven for 25 min or a bit more you want them dark brown- looking burnt, crispy, almost charred
take out and grate lemon zest over and then juice of the lemon
drizzle another tablespoon of olive oil over all
sprinkle with fresh grated parm cheese

(Except when I made it, I halved it.)