Oven Roasted Broccoli

It's not typical for me to think about side dishes.  They're usually at the last minute consideration, meaning it's frozen veggies nuked.  Something made me buy a head of broccoli at the store the other day, which worked out great for our carb heavy, veggie and protein light, dinner that evening.

We've been on an Alton Brown kick of late, ever since my husband started DVRing Good Eats.  So, I went directly to the AB page on Food Network's website to find a great broccoli recipe, and found this one.

I liked that it gave a nice flavor to the broccoli and made it very tender.  The addition of panko gave it a nice, unexpected, crunch too.  My anti broccoli 1 year old at least kept TRYING this broccoli, rather than throwing it on the floor.  He had a tough time with the stalks, but the problem didn't seem to be the taste.

Oven Roasted Broccoli from Alton Brown

Ingredients

• 1 pound broccoli, rinsed and trimmed
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/3 cup panko bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan or sharp Cheddar

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Cut the broccoli florets into bite size pieces. Cut the stalk into 1/8-inch thick, round slices. Place the broccoli into a mixing bowl and toss with the olive oil, garlic, kosher salt and pepper and set aside.

Spread the panko into a 13 by 9-inch metal cake pan and place into the oven for 2 minutes or until lightly toasted. Remove the panko from the oven and add to the bowl with the broccoli mixture. Toss to combine. Return the mixture to the cake pan, place in the oven and roast just until the broccoli is tender, 8 to 10 more minutes. Remove from the oven, toss in the cheese and serve immediately.