Mustard Caper Sauce for Broccoli or Brussels Sprouts

 

I happen to be one of those people who likes vegetables, so a little salt and pepper, and a bit of butter, and I’m good to go. But, if you’re one of those people who likes vegetables dressed up a bit, you are going to be over the moon once you taste this sauce. It was created with broccoli in mind, but it’s equally good over sautéed brussels sprouts. This is one of those things that is so good that it’s hard to stop eating it. It‘s also incredibly simple to put together, and company worthy. How often does that happen? Mustard Caper Sauce for Broccoli or Brussels Sprouts

6 T. butter (not unsalted)
1 T.
Dijon mustard
Juice of half a lemon
Pinch of white pepper
2 T. capers

Place butter, mustard, lemon juice, and pepper into a medium pan over medium heat. As the butter melts, whisk ingredients together until blended. Add capers, stir to combine, and pour immediately over cooked broccoli and serve. This makes enough to cover up to one pound of broccoli or brussels sprouts.

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Broccoli Pesto

We are on the cusp of October, and what that means is that  it’s time to harvest all of the tender herbs in your garden. For me, that means basil, and basil means pesto. Pesto is one of those things that I could eat with a spoon. I love the bite of the garlic, the freshness and fragrance of the basil, and the pungency of the Parmesan cheese. Recently I have discovered a lot of new recipes for pesto, and I plan to try them all. This one, for broccoli pesto was something that I couldn’t even imagine. The combination of broccoli and basil doesn’t immediately spring to mind, but it really works. Broccoli is such a wonderful antioxidant, and this is a deliciously easy way to get it into your diet. Whether you like broccoli or not, you’ll never know it’s here.

Sources: Pasta Bowl, Black Floral Flatware

Broccoli Pesto

From loveandlemons.com

 1 heaping cup very small broccoli floret pieces

½ c. fresh basil

⅓ c. extra-virgin olive oil

¼ c. grated Parmesan cheese

2 T. fresh lemon juice

1 t. lemon zest

2 garlic cloves

½ t. sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper

 Bring a medium pot of water to boil and place a bowl of ice water nearby. Blanch the broccoli in the boiling water for 30 seconds, and then use a slotted spoon to scoop it into the ice water to stop the cooking process. Drain and pat dry.

Place the broccoli into a food processor with the basil, olive oil, cheese, lemon juice and zest, garlic, salt, and several grinds of fresh pepper. Pulse until combined.

If desired, toss the pesto with the cooked pasta. Serve with pine nuts, red pepper flakes, and additional cheese. Season to taste and serve.

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Broccoli, Corn, and Bacon Salad

For whatever reason, I tend to shop for a family of four. I’m not sure why I do that. The various sales just draw me in, eager to use those sale ingredients in the vast pile of recipes I have stacked up to try. Because of this I tend to over buy on vegetables, and I’m talking BIG time. When you over buy on vegetables, you end up eating a lot of them, often forced to use them in a variety of ways. Hence, the broccoli and corn salad was born. I have to say that this is a delicious combination, so good, in fact, that I ate it as a main dish. Use fresh corn in the summer, grilled if you like, to enjoy it all year round.

Broccoli, Corn, and Bacon Salad

1 lg. head broccoli, chopped

1 lg. carrot, shredded

2 c. frozen corn, thawed

½ c. golden raisins

½ c. pecans, toasted, roughly chopped

1 T. fresh chives, minced

½ c. shredded sharp cheddar cheese

¼ t. Frank’s Hot Sauce

4 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled

¼  - ½ c. favorite Ranch Dressing

 Combine all ingredients, toss to coat with dressing, and serve immediately or store in the refrigerator for up to two days.

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One Pot Stove-Top Mac and Cheese

I love macaroni and cheese, but I am one of those people who aren’t wild about the baked variety. It’s fine; it just always seems to turn out too dry for me. I far prefer the creamier version that is baked on top of the stove. This genius recipe from Half Baked Harvest is a one-pot wonder. Deliciously creamy mac & cheese, studded with healthy bits of broccoli and zucchini, the latter of which melts right into the mix. This is a delicious main or side dish, wonderfully creamy, very flavorful, and unbelievably easy.

  One Pot Stove-Top Mac and Cheese

 1 lb. short-cut pasta*

1 head broccoli, chopped

¾ c. heavy cream or whole milk

3 oz. cream cheese, cubed

1 medium zucchini, grated (about 1 c. grated)

1 T. Dijon mustard

2 c. shredded sharp cheddar cheese

1 c. shredded Monterey jack cheese

1 t. garlic powder

1 t. onion powder

1 t. paprika

¼ t. cayenne pepper

1-2 T. salted butter (optional)

Kosher salt and black pepper

  In a large pot, bring 4 cups of water to a boil over high heat. Add 1½ teaspoons salt, the pasta, and broccoli. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 8 minutes. Do not drain the water. Stir in the milk, cream cheese, and mustard, and cook until the cream cheese has melted and the pasta is al dente, about 4-5 minutes more. Stir in the zucchini.

Add the cheeses, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, cayenne, and butter (if using), and stir until melted and creamy. Remove from the heat. Season with salt and pepper. If the sauce feels thick, add ¼ cup milk or water to thin.

Divide the mac and cheese between bowls. Top with black pepper.

*I used cavatappi, a longer cut pasta, so I added one additional cup of water, and increased cooking time by one minute.

 

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Crunchy Gouda Broccoli Bake

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 I’m sure that I am not alone in occasionally having the experience that while I have a lot of food on hand, I don’t seem to be able to make anything with it. I decided to get serious about creating something, and came up with a real winner. I went a little crazy buying pasta (I bought 4 boxes of cellentani, and now it would appear I have a pasta collection), had half a can of French fried onions in the pantry, a crown of broccoli threatening to go bad in the fridge, and a chunk of Gouda that was beginning to show its age. Enter the Crunchy Gouda Broccoli Bake. It is a one-pot wonder with components that are dumped into a casserole dish and baked until the cheese melts. It makes a great main dish, or tasty side. Not all of my experiments work out as well as this one did. I hope you’ll give it a try.

Crunchy Gouda Broccoli Bake

1 head broccoli, broken into florets
2 c. cellentani pasta
4 T. butter
½ onion, diced
1 t. Melissa’s minced garlic
¼ c. flour
3 c. whole milk
1 c. shredded gouda, divided
¼ t. freshly grated nutmeg
¼ t. kosher salt, or to taste
Few gratings freshly ground black pepper
French fried onions

Spray a 1½-qt. casserole with PAM; set aside.

In a medium stockpot, cook pasta according to package directions. During the last 3 to 4 minutes of cooking, add broccoli. Drain and place into the casserole dish; set aside.

Return the stockpot to the burner and set it to medium/low heat. Melt butter. When butter has melted, stir in onion, and cook until translucent. While you are cooking the onion, preheat oven to 350° F. Stir in garlic, cook for one minute. Stir in flour, and stir constantly for one minute. Gradually add milk, stirring constantly. Cook until slightly thickened, about five minutes; remove from heat. Stir in ½ c. cheese until smooth. Stir in nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Pour mixture over broccoli and pasta, tossing to coat. Top with remaining ½ c. cheese and French fried onions. Bake until the cheese has melted and top is golden brown.

Serve immediately.

Makes for ample main dish servings, or multiple side dishes.

Broccoli and Basil Pesto

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Over the course of our lives, we all fall victim in one way or another to a good sale. I recently fell victim to a broccoli sale. Yes, you read that right, broccoli. What can I tell you? It was a great deal. Little did I realize how far that 2-pound bag of broccoli florets would take me. You are the winners here because I did end up with some unique and wonderful recipes that I would encourage you to try, although unlike me, not in four days of succession. We won’t even go there.

The first that I’m going to share makes use of fresh seasonal basil as well as broccoli. This is so good that I was, quite literally, eating it with a spoon. Who needs pasta when you have something this tasty? Aside from a quick blanch of your florets, this goes together in a flash.

Broccoli and Basil Pesto

1½ c. broccoli florets*
1 c. packed fresh basil leaves
2 T. freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 t. lemon zest
2 large garlic cloves
¼ c. Parmesan cheese
1/3 c. extra virgin olive oil
Freshly grated black pepper, be generous

Bring a rather large pot of boiling water of water to a boil and add florets. Allow water to return to the boil, and boil for 30 seconds. Immediately empty into a strainer to drain, and then flip into a waiting pan of ice water to chill in order to stop further cooking. Drain and place in a food processor. Add remaining ingredients, and process until smooth. If it’s too thick for your liking, add a little more olive oil, if it’s too thin, add a little more Parmesan cheese.

*These don’t have to be small, mine were large. Don’t trouble yourself to break them down into tiny bits.

 

 

Easy Chicken Divan

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I have set aside one day a week to make a casserole because it’s quick, easy, will feed me for two days running, and freeze for consumption at some point in the future. This is another star-together meal that is delicious, and a crowd-pleaser. Even kids, who don’t like broccoli, will consume it this way if it’s chopped finely enough, and drenched in cheese. The original recipe calls for fresh broccoli that is parboiled, drained, and chopped, but who has the time? I had a bag of frozen broccoli florets in the freezer, so I thawed and drained them. Use what you like, you can even consider using frozen chopped spinach if you prefer. Quick, easy, delicious.

Easy Chicken Divan

1 lb. chopped fresh broccoli

1 c. sliced fresh mushrooms

1 ½ c. cubed, cooked chicken

1 10.75-oz. can Cream of Broccoli Soup;

1/3 c. milk

1 c. shredded cheddar cheese

¼ c. Italian breadcrumbs

1 T. butter

 

Preheat oven to 450°F. Spray a 9-inch pie plate or 1½-qt. casserole dish with PAM; set aside.

If using fresh broccoli, place it in a saucepan with enough water to cover. Bring to a boil and cook for 5 minutes, drain and chop.

Place broccoli into the bottom of your pie plate or casserole dish. Scatter mushrooms and chicken on top. In a medium bowl, whisk together soup and milk; pour mixture over chicken, Sprinkle with cheddar cheese. Sprinkle breadcrumbs over all and dot with butter.

Bake for 15 minutes until bubbly and lightly browned.

Cream of Broccoli Soup with Mushrooms

I don’t know about you, but sometimes one of my produce bins gets a bit more full than the other. So, when I came home from the store with a 16-ounce package of whole mushrooms, it was impossible (Curses, you kohlrabi and celeriac!) to put it in the vegetable bin where it belonged. So, just for the moment, I put it into the fruit bin that had dwindled down to virtually nothing other than a withered piece of citrus, so old and so shriveled, as to be unidentifiable. Fast forward two weeks later when it was time to wash out those bins and I found the mushrooms. Gasp! A pound of mushrooms, looking the worse for wear, and me with no clue as to why I’d bought them. Sure, I have a lot of recipes that call for mushrooms, but I know, at the time that I bought these, I was thinking of something in particular. Well, it’s too late now, I need to use these up and fast. So, this is going to be the Week of the Mushroom! Four different recipes will be coming to you, all using mushrooms. Get ready to be bowled over by fungus!

First up is Cream of Broccoli Soup with Mushrooms (yeah, yeah I had put the broccoli in the fruit bin as well), a surprisingly tasty, decidedly summer soup that pairs nicely with a tossed or fruit salad, crusty roll or slice of nut bread.

Cream of Broccoli Soup with Mushrooms

8 oz. fresh mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
2 Melissa’s shallots, finely diced
1 large onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup dry white wine
1 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
16 oz. chicken stock, preferably homemade
1 cup broccoli florets
1 cup whole milk
Pinch of nutmeg
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

In a large saucepan, sauté mushrooms, shallots, onion, and garlic in butter over low heat until mushrooms and onions are soft and all of the liquid has evaporated. Add wine and cook until evaporated. Stir in flour, and cook and stir for one minute. Add broth and broccoli, and bring to a simmer and cook for two minutes. Add milk and simmer for an additional 10 minutes. Add seasonings to taste and serve. This tastes equally good cold as it does warm, so consider it a soup for all seasons.

 

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One of my favorite broccoli soups is this copycat of St. Louis Bread Company’s.

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Broccoli and Leek Carbonara

This recipe was inspired by one I found in the Ricardo cooking magazine. Readers who are not from Canada, may be unfamiliar with the chef, food writer, and television host, named Ricardo Larrivée from Québec Canada. To me, Ricardo is the Canadian Martha Stewart, except he's male, and has a better magazine. I have long wanted to subscribe to the hard copy of his magazine, Ricardo Cuisine, but a foreign subscription is a bit too pricey for my wallet, so I was happy to be able to subscribe to the digital version, which is where I found the recipe for Broccoli Carbonara that inspired this one.

I tend to make pasta dishes once a week because I find that they are excellent ways in which to deliciously use up small portions of things left in the fridge. In this case, broccoli that remained after making the Crockpot Beef and Broccoli dish was put to use, along with leeks leftover over from the Strata, as well as a tidbit of deli ham. This is a light, delicious dish that makes either two hearty main dish servings, or four side servings. Feel free to swap out or add in any vegetables that are to your liking. I'm going to try this again with leeks, mushrooms, and quartered roasted Brussels sprouts.

Broccoli and Leek Carbonara

1/2 cup minced deli ham
1 1/2 cups chopped leeks, white and light green parts only
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 cups medium penne pasta
1 1/2 cups small broccoli florets
2 large eggs
2/3 cups grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley

In a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, place the deli ham, leeks, and the garlic, along with the oil and butter. Cook until all ingredients are lightly sautéed, or wilted.

In a large pot of boiling water to which you've added a teaspoon of salt and tablespoon of olive oil, place the penne, and cook at a full boil for nine minutes. At the nine minute point, dump in the broccoli, and cook for an additional 2 to 3 minutes until the pasta is al denté. At this point use a ladle and ladle out a cup of the pasta water, and then drain the pasta and broccoli.

In a large mixing bowl whisk the eggs until frothy, then whisk in the Parmesan cheese, and very slowly whisk in about 1/2 cup of the reserved cooking water. Add the pasta and broccoli to this mixture and stir to coat. Return this mixture to the large stockpot in which you boiled the pasta, and add the ham/leek/garlic mixture. Warm through over low heat stirring constantly until the egg mixture begins to thicken. If it gets too thick, little by little add in a bit more of the pasta water, stirring constantly. Once it reaches the desired thickness, stir in the parsley and serve.

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Cheesy Leek and Broccoli Soup

Once the fall arrives, and I get into “soup mode,” there is just no stopping me. I will look for any excuse and any ingredient to make soup. This recipe came as the result of my having a lone leek in the fridge, coupled with my going absolutely crazy at a frozen vegetable sale at the local market. Those 10/$10 deals, particularly where name brand, one-pound packages of frozen vegetables are concerned, are truly my Achilles heel. I think we're pretty much set for the winter now.

Cheesy Leek and Broccoli Soup

1 large leek

5 Tablespoons butter

1/4 cup flour

1 cup whole milk

1 cup heavy cream

2 cups chicken stock, plus more for thinning, if necessary

1 16-ounce package frozen, chopped broccoli

6 baby or 2 large carrots

1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1 8-ounce package Sharp Cheddar Cheese

Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Cut carrots into julienne strips; set aside.

Cut dark green end off of leek. Remove the tough outer leaves and split leek down the middle (but not completely through), spread apart and rinse thoroughly to remove all grit. Thinly slice leek into rounds.

In a 10" sauté pan, melt 2 tablespoons of the butter over medium-low heat. Add leek and cook until soft and opaque, but not brown; set aside.

Meanwhile, melt remaining 3 tablespoons of butter over medium heat in a 2-quart pot. Whisk in flour and cook for 3-5 minutes. Slowly add milk and cream, whisking constantly.

Whisk in chicken stock. Bring mixture to a simmer over medium heat. Once simmering, reduce heat to medium-low and cook for 20 minutes.

Add reserved carrots and leeks, and add broccoli. Cook for 25 more minutes over medium-low heat.

Add cheese, nutmeg, and salt and pepper to taste. Thin with additional stock, if too thick.  Heat through and serve.

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Crunchy Ham Casserole

There is something about this time of the year that makes me crave casseroles. This is a foreign concept to Mr. O-P, who tends to like his ingredients separated from one another. Me?  I like the ease of assembly, the ability to make ahead (usually early in the day before I get too busy and completely forget about dinner), and I love the coziness of eating it at a small table for two in front of a crackling fire accompanied by some crusty bread and a glass of wine.

This is a tasty dish that would serve equally well, I think, for both a formal brunch and weeknight dinner. The combination of ingredients includes broccoli and roasted red peppers, so the colors are appropriately festive and suitable for the season. As with all casseroles, feel free to experiment. Add water chestnuts instead of celery for the crunch. No roasted red peppers?  Substitute pimiento. Toast some slivered almonds to stir in with the onions for more depth of flavor. No ham?  Try cubed breast of chicken. As far as cheese, the Gruyere/Fontina combination, in my opinion, can't be beat, but use what you have on hand. Whatever you do, make this dish, light a fire, warm some plates, and enjoy!

Crunchy Ham Casserole

1 cup Gemelli (or other spiral pasta)

1 cup cubed ham

1/2 cup chopped celery

3 scallions, chopped

1 Melissa's Fire Roasted Sweet Red Bell Pepper, finely diced

1 (10 oz.) can cream of chicken soup with herbs (I used Campbell's)

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup milk

1 teaspoon hot sauce (I use Crystal)

1 cup fresh broccoli florets, cooked and drained

1/2 cup Gruyere cheese, grated

1/2 cup Fontina cheese, grated

1 can Durkee® French fried onions, divided

Preheat oven to 350° F.

Fill a medium (2.5-3 quart) saucepan with water. Bring to a boil over high heat. Blanch broccoli for three minutes, remove with a slotted spoon to a bowl of cold water. In the same pan with broccoli water, cook the pasta according to package directions.

In a medium bowl, combine pasta, ham, celery, scallions, red pepper, and 1/2 cup of the French fried onions.   Pour ingredients into a 1.5-2 quart casserole. In a separate bowl whisk together soup, sour cream, milk, and hot sauce.  Pour half of the sauce over the pasta mixture.  Arrange broccoli on top. Pour remaining sauce over broccoli. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Top with remaining French fried onions. Bake for 5-7 minutes longer until hot and bubbly.

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