Beauty Health for Life

As a dedicated frugalist and aficionado of tree-like vegetables, I’m forever in search of ways to enliven broccoli. There are fewer cheaper, more nutritious foods in the produce aisle, and honestly, it’s tough to pretend you’re a forest giant with blueberries.

Heres one way to jazz it up:



And you can stir fry it, sure. And broccoli goes pretty well in pasta. But otherwise, if you don’t dig the Cruciferae smothered in cheese or doused in lemon, you’re kinda out of luck.

Enter Broccoli with Roasted Red Peppers. A buttery, sweet twist on a usually staid side dish, the recipe takes about ten minutes if you have jarred roasted red peppers handy. If you don’t, roasting your own pepper will add 20 to 30 minutes to the cooking time, and could be well worth the effort.

To those whove never done it before, the process can be somewhat intimidating. Trust: it’s not so bad. Simply follow these exciting rules:

• Preheat your broiler.
• Wash and dry the pepper, taking care to remove any stickers. While delicious raw, roasted stickers possess an unfortunate poison flavor.
• Place the pepper on a small pan and stick it under the broiler. When the skin becomes blackened, use tongs to turn it over.
• When the whole pepper becomes blackened, remove it from the oven, place it in a bowl, and cover the bowl with tin foil or plastic wrap. Walk away and do something awesome for a few minutes. Suggested: Settlers of Catan, knitting, cartwheels.
• Once the pepper is cool enough to handle, peel it, seed it, and use the flesh for your own nefarious purposes.
• Dance.

By the third and fourth time you roast your own pepper, it’s practically a trip to Disneyworld. (Minus the lines!)

Before we get to the recipe itself, two quick notes on the process: First, I made this at my parents house. (Hi, Ma and Pa!) While they have an excellent pantry and fine selection of produce, they’re not Safeway, and rarely carry fresh herbs. Fortunately, a teaspoon of dried substituted quite nicely. Second, nutrition numbers were provided by All Recipes, and are listed below. Only the price calculations are my own.

Sweet readers, how do you make broccoli less boring? If it involves ranch dressing, open flame, or mangoes, I’m all ears.

~~~
If you like this recipe, you’ll surely enjoy:

• Broccoli Cheddar Soup
• Broccoli with Parmesan and Lemon
• Pasta with Broccoli and Chickpeas

~~~

Broccoli with Roasted Red Peppers
Makes 6 servings, 2/3 cup each.
Adapted from All Recipes/Taste of Home.


5 cups broccoli florets, cut small
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon butter
1/4 cup roasted red pepper, diced (or more, if you like)
1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley OR 1 teaspoon dried parsley
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper

NOTE: If roasting your own pepper, please use the instructions in the above post. If using jarred peppers, read on.

1) Steam broccoli, either in your microwave or on your stovetop. For stovetop: Fill a small pot with 1 or 2 inches water. Place a steamer basket in pot. Add broccoli to basket. Cover, leaving a crack. Steam 3 to 6 minutes, until broccoli is crisp-tender (not limp).

2) While that’s happening, melt butter in a medium pan over medium heat. Add garlic and sauté until fragrant, 30 to 60 seconds. Add peppers, parsley, salt, and pepper. Warm through. Remove from heat.

3) In a medium bowl, combine broccoli and pepper mixture. Stir to coat. Add more salt or pepper if you like. Enjoy!

Approximate Calories, Fat, Fiber, and Price Per Serving
41 calories, 2 g fat, 1 g fiber, $0.34

Calculations
5 cups broccoli florets, cut small: $1.48 (Broccoli on sale for $0.99/bunch.)
1 clove garlic, minced: $0.04
1 tablespoon butter: $0.08
1/4 cup roasted red pepper, diced: $0.39
1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley OR 1 teaspoon dried parsley: $0.01 (dried)
1/2 teaspoon salt: $0.01
1/8 teaspoon pepper: $0.01
TOTAL: $2.02
PER SERVING (TOTAL/6): $0.34

Please welcome Michele Laikowski, actress, voiceover artist, mom to the cutest boy in the Tri-State, and forever friend of CHG. And today on Serious Eats: Shredded Beet, Apple, and Currant Salad with Apple Vinaigrette. I made, ate, and loved dried fruit in a salad. Is that a horseman, I see?

Hi CHG readers! The last time I was here, my son was 7 months old and I was discovering ways to make baby food. Actually, I discussed making pureed peas and lamented the lack of space in my Brooklyn apartment.

Well, now, we’re at the stage in his life where he eats big-people food, and he wants to eat it NOW. That leaves a working mom, who picks up her kid at 6 pm, trying to figure out how to distract him for as long as possible while cooking a nutritious and healthy meal. (Thirty minutes is the longest I’ve ever distracted him. It’s in shame I tell you that I use The Wiggles.) What’s a Working Girl to do?

If you said, Harrison Ford, you are only partially correct. OK, you aren’t correct at all! But you guys, remember in the movie when he explains how he got the cut on his chin*? How cute was he? Well, dreamy, actually. Kris, I’m sorry but Harrison Ford showed George Clooney how to be a great big sexy star! Now, I know what I’m doing this weekend. I am watching Working Girl. I’m cooking ahead.

During the week, while I slave for The Man, I think about what my kiddo will eat and what my husband and I will also enjoy. Many times, its pork chops, rice, and frozen spinach (I mean, I totally heat it). That takes almost exactly 20 minutes with prep and everything. So, that’s good—but it’s also labor intensive. Please don’t laugh, but when you’ve got an almost-2-year-old pulling on your leg not wanting to just watch The Wiggles but actually interact with you, you really want to comply. And you especially do not want your kid with you while you’re near a stove. (TODDLERS ARE CRAZY AND WANT TO TOUCH EVERYTHING.)

So, here’s a meal that is toddler- and daddy-approved: Broccoli Quiche. You can make it on Saturday, and it will hang out in your fridge for about four days. Or you can make two and freeze one for the future.

I’ve adapted Mark Bittman’s recipe from How to Cook Everything; and by adapted, I mean I added broccoli. I make it while the kiddo is napping or when the other working person in my house and life, the daddy, has taken him outside to chalk up the sidewalk. Then on Monday, Tuesday, and/or Wednesday I can pull it out of the fridge and reheat it in my oven for 20 minutes.

This is probably not your go-to for really healthy, but for a toddler, it’s pretty darn good. And for your *ahem*-year-old mom and dad, it’s something you want to eat occasionally. That being said, you can totally healthy this up by using low-fat cheese, 2% milk, and/or cutting out a few of the egg yolks.

My husband, a real man, fought against this quiche. Now, he asks for it.


* Interesting (to me) fact: they also explain that scar in Indiana Jones.

~~~

If you like this recipe, you may also enjoy:
Mark Bittman’s Baked Eggs in a Dish
Crustless Spinach Quiche
Tofu Veggie Scramble

~~~

Broccoli Quiche

Photo: Melissa Sanders via Flickr

Adapted from How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman
Yields 8 servings

Ingredients
6 eggs, room temperature
1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese, grated
3/4 cup broccoli (frozen and defrosted or fresh)
1 1/2 cups milk, heated gently until just warm
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cayenne (or to taste)
frozen pie shell (or homemade, if you’re ambitious)

Instructions

1. Heat the oven to 325º and set the rack in the middle. Set out the frozen pie crust that you bought because you’re me and can only really tackle pie crusts on holidays. If you make your own pie crust, I bow to you—just remember to leave out sugar.

2. Beat the eggs with a fork or whisk. Stir in the milk, and add the cheese, broccoli, salt, and cayenne. Stir until well blended.

3. Put the pie crust on a baking sheet and pour in the egg mixture. When you put it in, you MAY have a little left over. I’m sorry, I add broccoli and Mark doesn’t. Scramble up the remainder in a pan to hold the kiddo tight until the quiche is ready.

4. Bake for 30 to 40 min, or until almost firm (it should still jiggle just a little in the middle) and lightly browned on top; reduce the oven heat if the shell’s edges are darkening too quickly. Cool on a rack for at least 30 minutes before wrapping it in plastic wrap, or it will get wet on top. (It may anyway, but the cooler the better.) Put quiche in fridge.

5. When you’re ready to eat it, take it out of the fridge and reheat at 325 for 20 – 30 min. If you guys are making it in the next couple weeks and live in the Northeast, serve with a honey crisp apple. They are the bomb right now.

Approximate Calories, Fat, Fiber, Protein, and Price per Serving
251 calories, 17.3g fat, .6g fiber, 12.4g protein, $2.07

Calculations
6 eggs: 426 calories, 30g fat, 0g fiber, 36g protein, $1.25
1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese cheese: 682.5 calories, 55.5g fat, 0g fiber, 42g protein, $1.39
3/4 cup broccoli: 30.75 calories, 0g fat, 3.75g fiber, 3g protein, $0.25
1 1/2 cups milk: 219 calories, 12g fat, 0g fiber, 12g protein, $0.43
1/2 tsp salt: negligible calories, fat, fiber, protein, $.02
1/4 tsp cayenne: negligible calories, fat, fiber, protein, $.02
frozen pie shell: 649 calories, 41g fat, 1g fiber, 6g protein, $2.48
TOTALS: 2007 calories, 138.5g fat, 4.75g fiber, 99 protein, $12.46
PER SERVING (totals/8): 251 calories, 17.3g fat, .6g fiber, 12.4g protein, $2.07