I ate five cups of broccoli the other day. Five cups! By noon, I hit my daily fiber requirements, and I’m pretty sure that my skin turned a light shade of green. As crazy as it may seem, I just couldn’t leave this steamed broccoli alone. It was that good and didn’t even meet the bare minimum requirements for the term “easy”. In fact, I am almost embarrassed to post the recipe. Steam broccoli, add lemon zest, pepper and salt, and eat. See what I mean?
It was a little birdie on my shoulder (you know, the hallucinogenic one that appears after you consume five cups of cruciferous vegetables) that insisted that I post the recipe. It reminded me how non-plussed I become after multiple nights of steamed broccoli, and that maybe everybody would appreciate a little variation on the theme.
In other words, the birdie made me do it.
If you are watching your sodium intake and you’re eating this broccoli with a dish that’s already salted, feel free to eliminate the sprinkle of salt. If you’re eating it alone by the bowlful (ahem), that little sprinkle adds something special. This would be the perfect side dish for Southwestern Roasted Chicken with Cumin, Chili Pepper & Cilantro or Baked Tilapia with Pesto & Breadcrumb Crust.
The recipe:
Set a medium-sized saucepan filled with 1 inch of water over high heat, and bring the water to a boil.
Place the broccoli in a steamer basket, place inside of the saucepan (be sure the bottom of the basket does not touch the water), cover and reduce the heat to medium.
Steam the broccoli until just tender when pierced with a fork, 4 to 5 minutes.
Transfer the broccoli to a serving bowl. Add the olive oil, grate the zest of the lemon over the broccoli, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and toss to coat. Serve.
Other healthy vegetable side dishes:
Cookin’ Canuck’s Spaghetti Squash with Swiss Chard, Dried Cranberries & Dijon Vinaigrette
Cookin’ Canuck’s Roasted Cauliflower with Indian Spices
Within the Kitchen’s Healthy & Easy Ginger-Garlic Green Beans
The Tart Tart’s Roasted Acorn Squash with Chile Vinaigrette
Ring Finger Tan Line’s Asian Inspired Roasted Brussels Sprouts
From the kitchen of Cookin Canuck. www.cookincanuck.com
Ingredients
- 12 oz. (about 5 cups) broccoli florets
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 large lemon (for the zest only)
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt
- 1/4 - 1/2 tsp ground pepper
Instructions
- Set a medium-sized saucepan filled with 1 inch of water over high heat, and bring the water to a boil.
- Place the broccoli in a steamer basket, place inside of the saucepan (be sure the bottom of the basket does not touch the water), cover and reduce the heat to medium.
- Steam the broccoli until just tender when pierced with a fork, 4 to 5 minutes.
- Transfer the broccoli to a serving bowl. Add the olive oil, grate the zest of the lemon over the broccoli, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and toss to coat. Serve.
Notes
Calories 62 / Total Fat 3.8g / Saturated Fat 0.5g / Sodium 175.2mg / Total Carbohydrates 6.1g / Fiber 3.5g / Sugars 0.1g / Protein 3.3g / WW (Old Points) 1 / WW (Points+) 2
{ 33 comments… read them below or add one }
You’re absolutely right, Dara . . . there’s nothing like a simply-dressed, well-prepared dish of a great vegetable. Yesterday, after I cut a couple ripe tomatoes and tomatillos in the morning to let them sit together to mellow with a little cilantro and salt (for lunch, you know) I’d (practically eaten the whole bowl before lunch!
Love the broccoli!
I love all the healthy recipes you post, and I’m always looking for new ways to eat broccoli. A little variation never hurt anyone
Isn’t the power of a little lemon amazing?
Yes, I’m biased.
It’s a little against everything I believe in, but I can eat broccoli like this all day everyday. Warm, cold.. it’s kinda my favorite..well right behind brownies
I love the freshness of the dish, simple but I bet its so tasty!
Love this idea Dara. Wow….simple, but I’ve never thought of it. Thanks for reminding me how tasty broccoli is, and that we don’t have to smother it with cheese to make it so.
I started back to using My Fitness Pal yesterday, and it feels SO great to be back on track with portion control and accountability. I wasn’t crazy over the holidays, but it’s amazing how a few pounds can creep up on you just from that extra pancake, that extra pat (or two) of butter, that extra biscotti (or two or three or four…I’m pretty sure at least 3 pounds of weight gain is from homemade cranberry lemon biscotti alone!! LOL)
I friended you there as I’d love to add you to my accountability circle.
You’re amazing!
So simple and yet so tasty. I too could eat 5+ cups of this!
I could eat this every day!
This is one of my favorite ways to eat broccoli too!
Looks delish! Thanks for the link up
My husband has recently been obsessed with broccoli, which is a very good thing! He would love this one. I think Im going to need to make it for him
I would love this! I’ve been buying those big bags of broccoli from Costco and eat it raw with my Greek Yogurt Ranch Dip.
I can see why you ate 5 cups of this. It’s amazing, Dara!
I often steam broccoli and like it but it hadn’t occurred to me to add lemon zest. Glad you posted this– I’ll enjoy the bright citrus on my next plate of steamed veggies, though I can’t promise to eat 5 cups!!
Good for you for hitting your fiber intake so early in the day! The rest of the day is gravy as far as I am concerned.
As for your skin turning green . . . I use to work with a wonderful vegetarian woman whose breast milk had a greenish tinge to it. She loved broccoli too. (My lunch always ended up next to her bottles of EBM)
Thanks for both a deliciously simple recipe and such clear photos/directions.
I could definitely eat 5 cups of broccoli, love the stuff!
Hi Dara,
Had to check out why I was getting hits from your site! Thanks for including my green beans! I love broccoli too and often the kids and I eat a whole steamed pot of it! It makes a great snack! Also wanted to tell you I tried your tortilla casserole a month or so ago and JT and I love it. In fact my our version will get a blog post soon (with credit back to the original, of course!
C.
Making this right now!! It looks amazing!
Looks like just the ticket for my New Year’s resolution! And tasty, too.
Lemon and broccoli a great combination and you have to love how easy this is!
I’ve always just had plain steamed broccoli..what a great idea! Can’t wait to give this a try soon!
This broccoli sounds so tasty! I need to eat five cups of it too, especially after eating the “broccoli” that I just posted;)
Yum, this sounds great!!!
I’m always on the look out for great, simple veggie recipes.
We make steamed broccoli at least once a week – the kids love it simply plain or with a little garlic olive oil, salt and pepper. Love your idea of using lemon zest for a change. I make extra for omelets in the morning sometimes too. So good!
This looks so fabulous!
Oh Dara, next time share some with me! I could eat 5 cups of broccoli prepared like this any day! Lemon is magical
My family loves broccoli, and so I am always trying to find new recipes ……this recipe will be a big hit to go with tomorrows dinner! I would love for you to link up this recipe to my linky party, my readers will LOVE this recipe!! http://www.fivelittlechefs.com/2013/01/fantastic-thursday-27.html
Crazy – so simple, never thought of it yet it makes so much sense! Thank you so much for sharing!!!
After changing computers I lost track of your blog for awhile. I was happy to run across it again and even happier to see the healthy recipes. Now I just need some time to check them all out. Congrats on your weight loss.
Sasha, I’m so glad you found me again!
simple. delicious. lovely. Just like your personality.
OH I thought we were the only ones to do this! We had garlic and butter and steam it together. So yummy!
{ 1 trackback }