The Accidental Locavore was trying to figure out a good way to prep broccoli to bring to a friend’s house for dinner. The idea was to precook it and “marinate” it so we could just toss it on the grill to finish it. This served 4:
Butter Broccoli Recipe
- 2 heads of broccoli, cut into florets
- 4 tablespoons butter (1/2 stick), softened
- Zest and juice of 1 lime
- 1-2 tablespoons hot sauce
- Salt to taste
Steam the broccoli until just crisp-tender. I did it for about 5 minutes in a large, covered bowl in the microwave.
While the broccoli is cooking, combine the lime zest and juice, butter, hot sauce and salt in a small bowl.
Add the butter mixture to the broccoli and toss until the butter has melted into the broccoli. Taste and adjust salt and hot sauce. You can eat it now, or put them on a veggie pan on the grill and grill until just starting to brown, about 4 minutes a side. Serve and enjoy!
My verdict:
It was great and a big hit! I wanted something that would have been fine warmed in the microwave, but that also would be good grilled, depending on what our hosts had going on. Originally, the butter was going to be used as a compound butter, adding it to the broccoli after it had been grilled. However, the lime juice and hot sauce wouldn’t really combine with the butter, so I just tossed it with the broccoli. The hot sauce was a combination of chipotle Tabasco and Sriracha — about a tablespoon of each, since I couldn’t remember if these friends were spicy fiends or not. The broccoli marinated for about an hour in the butter and then we grilled it. This would work with any number of vegetables, Brussels sprouts and cauliflower coming to mind and lemon could easily be substituted for the lime. A dash of fish sauce might be interesting too. What do you think?
