#4 Pinspiration: Roasted Broccoli

Another pin: #4 on goals list.


Broccoli: As a kid we would have it as part of our traditional "Sunday Dinner" at my dad's house. I think it was frozen broccoli? *Correction: Always fresh!*  But always with a generous serving of Cheese Whiz cheese sauce on top of it. (I was in it mostly for the cheese.)

Broccoli plain? No thanks. So, I haven't really been one to buy or make it much as an adult.

Enter: this blog.

She talks about how delicious broccoli is by itself roasted with a bit of oil, and a dash of salt. I was intrigued. She also explains how eating more vegetables helped her in her weight loss. The secret was to find the right way to prepare them so that you actually like them and want to eat them.

Find out which veggies you like, the best way to prepare them, introducing herbs and spices for flavoring, using butter as a flavor instead of a foundation, cooking veggies in a hot oven makes them sweet without adding sugar, and having at least double the amount of said veggies as a "side" to her meal.

To quote her:
"I felt full and content and free to eat whatever I fancied.

The moral of all of this is simply that vegetables married every meal. They weren’t an afterthought or a ‘should’ at suppertime, but a lusty must."

Sounds good right? So, I tried it out! 

I made it, loved it, and slightly adapted it. 

I make about ...six heads of broccoli at a time, ate it with dinner, lunch, and snacks in between. The key factor for me is to have lots of it made and available to eat so that I can just pull it out and eat it. I don't even have to re-warm it for it to be good. 

I hate wasting food, so it especially pains me to buy fresh produce only to forget it is there, or wait too long to prepare it, only to find it already spoiled! 

Noooooooo!

My solution is to wash, dry, chop into spears, and put the celery (or whatever other produce I buy) in tupperware as soon as I get home from the store. If I prepare the food when I buy it, I am more likely to eat it, Zach is way more likely to eat it, and Lucy is more likely to eat it.

Broccoli: In all it's roasted glory.

As a result of making this about once every one-and-a-half weeks- and making lots of it at a time, (as well as incorporating more vegetables in my diet over all), I lost 10lbs.

In one month! 

I was pleasantly surprised.
It's easy, delicious, healthy, and you can pretty much eat as much of it as you want! If you are going to mindlessly eat something while watching TV, why not this?

Here is my adapted version: 

Roasted Broccoli

Ingredients:

• 3 heads broccoli, washed, dried and chopped into florets (I usually double it, and toss in bowl in two sections)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil (I use EVOO)
• 1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. 
2. Put florets in large bowl that has a lid, make sure there is enough room in the bowl to toss the contents inside. Drizzle olive oil over broccoli. Lightly sprinkle evenly with salt.
3. Put on lid and shake it to evenly coat broccoli inside. 
4. Open bowl and lay the florets in a single layer on a foil-lined large baking sheet.
5. Roast for 20-25 minutes, or until broccoli tips have begun to blacken and they can be easily pierced with a fork.
6. When done to liking, take out to cool. 
7. Enjoy!

Cleaned, dried, chopped, drizzled, and salted. Ready for lid and tossing.

Ready to go in the oven!