Print This Post 
I’m pretty much a sucker for any recipe that claims to be “the best.” Oh yeah? We’ll see about that!
So when I saw Best Broccoli of Your Life on the blog Fantastical Sharing of Recipes, I knew I needed to write broccoli on the grocery list, and get it, stat.
Fantastical Sharing is a site created by Sarah, a sweet 20something with two kids, an Army husband and a coupla cats. Her subtitle — “Just one bite away from happiness” – gives you a clue that she is a happy home chef.
I was assigned to her site as my Secret Recipe Club food blog to explore this month, and she gave me plenty to contemplate.
She has an incredible collection of yummy-looking pizza-ish things, including Homemade Pizza Rolls, Pepperoni Pizza Omelets, DIY Pizza Lunchables, Sweet N Spicy Hawaiian Pizza, Hawaiian Pizza Grilled Cheese, and Philly Cheesesteak Pizza. I’m pretty sure the only thing she doesn’t have on there is pizza ice cream. Wait, though, maybe I didn’t look deeply enough…
She has a culinary bucket list for 2013 with 60 recipes on it (she figures 1+ per week), and crosses them off as she makes them. Every one of those looked good to me, too. Maybe I should just browse HER list when I am feeling uninspired.
But that broccoli, oh my, that broccoli. I might be a little looney that broccoli can make me so happy.
I took her recipe and tweaked it, adding carrots, cauliflower, peppers and onions, simply because I am a tweaker, not because it necessarily needed to change. A few more colorful veggies = great in my book.
Never mind my mental illness over broccoli. Apparently Sarah and I are in the same club.
Go write veggies on your list, and turn on the oven.
Recipe: Shockingly Delicious Best Vegetable Medley of Your Life
Summary: If ever a plate of roasted vegetables will make you forget the meat, it is this one. Roasting sweetens and concentrates the flavors, and the Parmesan and pine nuts add body, while the lemon zest adds zing.
Ingredients
1 (2-pound) bag vegetable medley — broccoli, cauliflower and carrots- 5 mini colored sweet bell peppers, stemmed and halved
- 1 red onion, peeled and sliced into 8 wedges
- 5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided use
- 3 big pinches kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
- Zest from 1 extra large lemon (1 1/2-2 tablespoons zest)
- 1 (2-ounce) bag Melissa’s Italian Pine Nuts, toasted (about a scant 1/2 cup; or substitute toasted slivered almonds)
- 1/2 cup Parmesan shreds
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil (optional)
Instructions
- Heat oven to 425F degrees. Line a large, flat baking pan or sheet with foil for easy cleanup later. (I forgot to do this and it worked out OK because I had a nonstock roasting pan.)
- Place vegetable medly into pan, along with peppers and onions. Drizzle with 4 tablespoons olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and toss until coated.
- Fling garlic slices on top and roast for 25 minutes, undisturbed.
- Remove from oven, add remaining tablespoon olive oil, lemon zest, toasted nuts and Parmesan shreds and toss with spatulas to mix.
- Garnish with basil if you like, and serve!
- Serves 4-6, depending on appetites.
Source
Fantastical Sharing of Recipes credits Amateur Gourmet, who credits Ina Garten from her book “Back to Basics.” I’m sure Ina won’t mind that I tweaked her recipe to add more and different vegetables!
My Secret Recipe Club creations
Here is a list of what else I have made for the Secret Recipe Club since I joined the group. Check it out!
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 25 minutes
Diet type: Vegetarian
Diet tags: Gluten free
Number of servings (yield): 4-6
Culinary tradition: USA (Nouveau)
My rating
You can see what other cooks in the Secret Recipe Club made this month, right below here in the array of photos. Click any of them to be transported to that particular recipe!
Welcome to my kitchen! At ShockD, you’ll find scrumptious, tried & true, "scary good" recipes, tips and coaching to make YOU a fabulous home cook! Don't blame me if you need a 12-step program to wean yourself away! E-mail me: Dorothy.Reinhold@gmail.com
made tonight and it was delicious and easy to do.
Doreen,
So glad you liked it! Thank you so much for coming back to tell me.
My husband just got a job with Mann’s Vegetables and brought home a bag of this medley (nice perk!) so I turned to the Internet for ideas – I will never need another recipe for broccoli, cauliflower and carrots again! I didn’t add any extras or even onions and it was still shockingly delicious!
San Diablo,
What a nice note to receive! Congrats on his job (FABULOUS!) and so glad you like this recipe.
I, too, love recipes that claim to be the best (I have a few of these myself). I will give this a try, it sounds wonderful. Thank you.
I didn’t have parmesan or pine nuts, or a fresh lemon, but it still turned out great. Made a quick dressing out of what I had available: olive oil, some lemon juice (from a bottle), apple cider vinegar, water, garlic, salt, pepper and dried basil, all shaken in a jar.
Drizzled a couple of spoons over and it was delicious. Also made couscous to go with. Great recipe – the cauliflower and broccoli especially!
Jen,
I have to say, you ROCK! I so approve of just making do with what you have. Your substitutions are great, and it goes to show you that you don’t have to stick strictly to the plan to have it still turn out well.
reading all that made my stomach growl for some reason.
I love this recipe very much. How much time need to prepare it?
Kg,
It takes about 25 minutes in the oven.
Loved your version with all the veggies together, I think roasted broccoli is amazing, I do it quite often, but never thought of a mix like the one you made… great variation!
Sally,
Thanks! It gives it a little more interest to have a variety of vegetables.
That looks so delicious and easy to make – I’ve got to get it in the rotation soon!
Lindsay,
Absolutely! I’ve made it twice in one week now!
Are you a sucker for the “best” comment ever? Because I am about to leave it. Oh wait the phone’s ringing (double)XOGREG
This looks delicious! We all get sick of the same old steamed veggies and this would be a great alternative.
Wow that looks sooo yummy. As hard as it may be to believe because I always just have so many baked goodies on my blog, I am a total veggie freak and this recipe is just making my mouth water like crazy. Great pick!!
Casey,
Me too (the vegetable freak). I made this 2 days in a row….that’s how good it is.
The Magical Markdown Sticker caught my eye, but flinging garlic kept me here.
Thanks, Dorothy!
Kirsten,
Yeah, I am a sucker for markdown produce! And with garlic, you must always fling.
Yep, I would have to agree. Looks fantastic 🙂
Yum! I love veggies but get bored of just steaming them all the time.. this sounds great!
Ohh I love the idea of more veggies – we love veggies in my house 🙂 Happy Reveal Day!
I was so glad I got to feature you this month! You have amazing recipes and I loved getting to know you and your blog better. Loved your applesauce recipe, thank you for saving me from my two year old! 🙂
WOW! What LOVELY photos and of such a tasty looking meal too…..I LOVE my veggies and this is a GREAT SRC pick, such a great recipe! Karen
I love a good veggie dish, and love the idea of baking it as opposed to stir-frying. I may just be the next “tweaker” to get my hands on this…a little ginger and sesame oil….
Renee,
This is a great tweaking recipe! Endless possibilities!
I’m always looking for new ways to make and serve veggies with meals, this looks terrific! What a great SRC selection!!