This recipe is about as easy as it gets! It’s tasty and simple and nutritious with the dark green vegetable, healthy fat and whole garlic cloves. If you cannot find broccolini you can easily use regular broccoli spears. Just cut them into long, thin sections.
In case you’re wondering:
Broccoli – a member of the cabbage family. The whole plant is edible. Not just the florets. We’re all pretty familiar with this one.
Broccolini – This isn’t baby broccoli, contrary to popular belief. It’s actually a cross between the broccoli we’re all familiar with and Chinese broccoli. It’s a little sweeter and milder tasting than broccoli.
Both are winter vegetables and both are packed with vitamins, minerals and fiber. Did you know broccoli(ni) is full of calcium? It’s not just in milk!
If you’re making this dish part of your “Dinner For 2”, it adds that pretty green color to your plate but it’s easy to adjust the amount you’re preparing to serve any number of eaters (1 bunch for two people, 2 bunches for four, and so on).
If you find some broccolini that’s blooming, that’s a bonus! The little flower buds are certainly edible and they add a bit of glamour to your meal, no?
Lastly, the garlic “candy” adds pizzazz to your otherwise plain ‘ol roasted veggie (not that there’s anything wrong with those!) and with just 1 extra step. They add flavor to the broccolini and an extra little treat on your plate. Pull off as many cloves as you want and just place them on the roasting pan with the broccolini. You want small cloves, if possible, so they and your broccolini need the same amount of roasting time. The cloves in our photo here were very large and needed extra roasting time after the broccolini was done. It was no big deal but smaller cloves would have been done at the same time.
You don’t have to peel or dice them! They roast whole in their little sleeves and when it’s time to eat them they’re very soft and will slip right out of their papers into your mouth. Roasting the garlic mellows and sweetens its flavor significantly. If you’ve never tried this, now is the time! Dr. Edwards kiddos love their roasted garlic cloves and started to call it garlic “candy” so now we do too!
Prep Time: 40 minutes
Cook Time: 7 hours
ingredients
- 1 bunch broccolini for every 2 people you’re serving, washed
- A handful of whole garlic cloves, unpeeled (small ones are best)
- Avocado oil for drizzling
- Salt & black pepper to taste
instructions
- Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and line your broccolini spears out in an even layer.
- Toss your garlic cloves in all hither and thither.
- Drizzle about 2 – 3 Tbs avocado oil over the veggies. Give them a little toss and rub down to be sure there’s some oil on everything.
- Sprinkle with salt and pepper (may take a bit more salt than you imagine but you can always add it at the table if the need be).
- Place your pan of veggies in the oven for about 12 minutes. Check the broccolini and once they’re very bright green and fork tender (with still a bit of a crunch), you’re done! Feel free to add 2 minutes to the cook time if you would like them to be a bit softer. *If you’re garlic cloves are still firm, leave them on the pan and put them back in for 5 to 10 minutes. You want them to be very soft.
- Enjoy!
Notes
If these are part of a larger meal I would prep these and then set them aside until it’s almost time to eat. They cook quickly and to serve them warm they need to be one of the last things to go in the oven before time to eat.
