Roasted Broccoli with Onions and Garlic – Roasting veggies really brings out their best flavor. This will quickly turn even broccoli haters into fans!
Roasted Broccoli with Onions and Garlic:
Roasted broccoli with onions and garlic is a quick, easy and delicious dish. Now, I know broccoli can get a bad rap. But even life long broccoli haters will change their minds after they try this! If your childhood memories of eating broccoli are of an over boiled, mushy, not-green-anymore side dish, you need to give roasting a try. I’m always looking for a new twist on veggies, and roasting seems to make every veggie taste better. When you roast broccoli, it gets browned, caramelized and a little crispy – the opposite of mushy. And adding the red onions and garlic to the roasting pan really ups the deliciousness.
The Ingredients:
Fresh veggies with a little olive oil and lemon, that’s it for the ingredients! Broccoli, of course, and also red onion and garlic to give it extra flavor.
The Preparation:
To prep the broccoli, cut the florets off of the stalks, then cut the large florets in half lengthwise. You want to cut the broccoli so that there are as many flat surfaces as possible. If you like the stalks, peel them and cut them in half. The medium and small florets can be left whole. The idea is to have all of the broccoli pieces approximately the same size so they cook evenly.
For the onions and garlic, you’ll want to leave them in large pieces so they don’t get done before the broccoli. You don’t want anything to burn, just to brown! I used half of a red onion and then cut that into six wedges. For the garlic, I left the cloves whole and just peeled them. Ten cloves of garlic…. yes, ten! When garlic is roasted it turns from sharp and strong to mellow and buttery, so ten cloves won’t seem like too much. This is similar to how a whole head of roasted garlic is used in my garlic mashed potatoes recipe, but it’s not overwhelming.
Once the broccoli, onions and garlic are prepped, toss them with olive oil, salt and pepper. Then when you put them on your baking sheet, make sure to place any flat surfaces of the cut broccoli face down. They will get so nice and caramelized while they roast! This is how broccoli becomes delicious.
When the roasted broccoli with onions and garlic comes out of the oven, the last step is to add some acidity and brightness to balance all of that “roastiness”. Zest a lemon, then cut it in half. (Have you ever cut a lemon in half before you remembered to zest it? That’s the worst.)
For a finishing touch, squeeze half of the lemon on the veggies and sprinkle the zest on top.
The Payoff:
Give roasting broccoli a try the next time you want a new veggie recipe. I think you’ll be surprised at how good it is!
Roasted Broccoli with Onions and Garlic
- Yield: 6 1x
Description
Roasting veggies really brings out their best flavor. This will quickly turn even broccoli haters into fans!
Ingredients
- 2 heads of broccoli, separated into florets with the large florets cut in half (you can also peel the stalks and cut those in half if you like)
- 1/2 of a red onion, cut into 6 wedges
- 10 whole cloves of garlic, peeled
- 2 – 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
- 1 lemon, zested and 1/2 of the lemon squeezed over the finished dish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a cookie sheet with baking spray.
- Mix all ingredients, except the lemon zest and juice, in a large mixing bowl, then pour onto the baking sheet. Arrange the broccoli so the cut edges are flat on the baking sheet, this way you’ll get the most caramelization. If you feel like it needs it, sprinkle a little more olive oil on top of the veggies.
- Roast for 20-25 minutes, until the broccoli, onions and garlic are nicely browned.
- Before serving, sprinkle with the lemon zest and juice. Enjoy!
