Sesame Garlic Roasted Broccoli

By Sara Holden
sara@spearsstrong.com

Broccoli. Even in my vegetable-hating heyday, I was always able to tolerate the green veggie that so many despise. 

But I never really DESIRED broccoli. Until now.  

While brainstorming a vegetable dish one evening to go with one of our favorite chicken dishes (Honey turmeric chicken. So easy. So delicious. Recipe coming soon), I wondered if there was a healthy asian flavors-inspired sauce I could make for the broccoli we had hanging out in the fridge. I googled away and the first thing that popped up was a recipe for ginger sesame roasted broccoli. No sauce, but exactly the flavors I’d been looking for.

And, bonus- it takes less than 30 minutes to make.

I set to work following all the directions except for that whole measuring thing. Who needs that? I do, apparently, because I ended up accidentally pouring half the jar of powdered garlic onto the broccoli in my mixing bowl. Oops. Good thing we like garlic! And good thing there was still more broccoli. I cut up more florets and tossed them in the bowl (extra veggies never hurt anyone), and was soon sliding a pan full into the oven. Fifteen minutes later, while our chicken was still sizzling on the stove and our brown rice was still bubbling in the pot, I was tossing the broccoli with the sesame oil and seeds.

Two minutes later they were gone, as sous chef Andy and I stood over the mixing bowl and quickly devoured them. With our fingers. Side dish, appetizer, same difference.

Enjoy some yummy, crispy roasted broccoli! And try not to burn your fingers, kids.

Sesame Garlic Roasted Broccoli
Ingredients
1 lb of broccoli florets
1 tsp ground ginger (or finely minced/grated fresh ginger)
1 tsp garlic powder (or finely minced/grated fresh garlic)
2 Tbs olive oil (I’ve also done this with avocado oil when we were out of olive. Works just fine)
Pinch of salt and pepper (to taste)
½ tsp of sesame oil
1 Tbs toasted sesame seeds

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Cut broccoli into bite-sized pieces. Toss broccoli florets in mixing bowl with 1 ½ Tbs olive oil, minced garlic/garlic powder, ground ginger, salt and pepper. Spread onto baking sheet (can use parchment paper or aluminum foil but oil should grease them up enough not to stick), making sure no broccoli pieces are stacked on top of each other. 

Roast for 15-20 minutes, until tips of the broccoli are browning and slightly crispy. Put roasted florets back in the mixing bowl and toss with olive oil, sesame oil and sesame seeds. 

Enjoy!

Optional:
Add a pinch of cayenne pepper before roasting for a little extra kick.
Sprinkle with a little lemon or lime juice after tossing with sesame oil and seeds.