Lemon Garlic Broccoli Sidedish

Yum broccoli- I used to hate broccoli when I was younger- now I love it.  You can roast it, eat it raw, steam it, stir fry it etc.  When fresh broccoli goes on sale, I buy a whole lot of it because I just bring it home and freeze it myself- it turns out to be cheaper than if I bought it frozen already (try and get it on sale like 99¢ a pound.  Not a bunch, by the pound!). 

First, start a big pot of water boiling.  Then while you wait for that to boil take your broccoli and cut it up into regular floret pieces and rinse them.  When the water boils we are going to blanch* them.  Dump them in the water and keep them there for about a min or so- when they turn a really bright green strain them and you can either run them under cold water (which I do because I'm lazy) or you can do it the right way and "shock"** them.

(*Blanching is boiling a vegetable for about a min or two to bring out all the bright green color, take away that raw taste, but still keep it crisp-ish.  It also helps to prep it for freezing.  I have tried freezing it raw- and believe me it just does not work)
(**"Shocking" is taking a blanched item and putting it directly into an ice water bath to stop the cooking process to keep that bright color and crisp texture)

Let the broccoli drain and cool, then pop in ziplocks and put in the freezer!

Then when you want to use them, you can either let them defrost and use however you want- If I'm roasting I using squeeze some water from them first.  Or you can just put them in a microwavable dish and enjoy steamed- just like from the frozen food section! And that is what I did with this super easy recipe:

Ingredients:

• About 2 to 3 cups of broccoli
• a lemon (zest* and juice)
• salt & pepper to taste (about a 1 tsp of salt and 1/2 tsp pepper)
• a clove of garlic peeled
• 1 to 2 tablespoons of butter (or the butter substitutes)
• extra virgin olive oil-EVOO (optional)

Directions

1. If the broccoli is frozen- put in your microwave dish and put in the microwave for about 4 mins to get them going. 
2. Pop the garlic out of its skin and lightly smash- trying to keep it intact- we are going to pull the clove out later, just using it a bit to lightly flavor the broccoli.  This dish really is about the clean lemon taste. Or you can just totally omit this step.
3. When the broccoli can be easily mixed up and is not frozen solid, take all the ingredients (except the oil) and mix all together.
4. Put back into the microwave and cook until done.  Drizzle with a bit of EVOO if you want and serve next to whatever's for dinner or all by itself! Just don't serve the garlic clove.

*Lemon Zest: what an awesome flavor booster- and you already bought the lemon, so why not use all of it.  The zest is where the essential oils are.  Use only the colored part, because the white part (the pith) is bitter and no good for eating.  You need a zester, but they are cheap and good for other things like cheese, nutmeg, garlic etc.  A zester was one of my very first kitchen gadgets. There are different types of zesters- try and get one that is a microplane one- because the citrus zester is (obviously) just for citrus. The one below is what I have- a microplane

oneshetwoshe.com

A Lite Lunch- The Salad Wrap-Up

I've had a request for vegetarian dishes. They don't have to be boring or stereotypical- vegetables are super yummy and super good for you.  This is a wrap I LOVE to make for lunch, it's light and refreshing, but still fills you up.  Simple, clean flavors all wrapped up and ready to go anywhere! And so many things can be switched around or omitted to your liking!

The Salad Wrap-Up

Ingredients

• 1 wrap of your choosing (I like the whole wheat or spinach) about 8 in diameter
• 1 to 2 slices of swiss cheese or provolone (any tangy cheese will do)
• 1 leaf/piece of romaine lettuce (or any leafy green you like)
• 1 tomato
• 1 cucumber (I prefer the seedless english cucumbers so I can leave the skin on)
• 1 carrot
• 1 avocado
• Red wine vinegar
• Salt

Directions

1. We need to prep the veggies first, except the avocado and lettuce (you can cut up the whole veggie and save some for the next wrap or just cut what you need).  You can cut up these veggies anyway you like, butttttt the way I like it best is if you cut them all into small matchstick pieces- it lays in the wrap better and you get a taste of everything in each bite.
2. Cut the avocado in half lengthwise- pop the pit out*- scoop out the flesh with the spoon and cut into about 4 to 5 strips lengthwise.
3. Now time to assemble! Lay down the wrap, lay down the piece of lettuce, pile on the veggies (you don't need to use everything you cut, just enough to fill up the wrap), and then the avocado.  Sprinkle with some kosher salt and drizzle a bit of red wine vinegar**, roll it up, cut on the bias (cut in half diagonally) and enjoy!

*Avocado pits can be tricky to pop out- cut in half length wise and then hold the half that has the pit in it with a towel in your hand face up towards you.  Take a big sharp chef knife and chop down on the pit (not too forceful- you're just trying to get the knife and the pit to be stuck together a bit). Then just rotate your knife and avocado in separate directions and it comes out very easy.  To get the pit off your knife just push it off from the top of the knife (not sharp end).

**I love the simple taste of just vinegar in this recipe, you definitely should try it, but if you think it's not for you- you can always substitute lite /fat-free Italian dressing (or really any other salad dressing you like)