Last week I challenged myself to make 3 recipes every week from magazines or online recipe sources that will expand my knowledge of both cooking techniques and flavor combinations. The first recipe I chose is from Bon Appetit’s January issue, Roasted And Charred Broccoli With Peanuts.

I chose this recipe for a few reasons:

• I LOVE broccoli and am always looking for new ways to prepare it.
• Peanuts with broccoli is a combination I have not tried before and it sounded interesting
• Charring broccoli in a skillet with NO fats intrigued me
• I bought Nutritional Yeast a month a so ago because I wanted to try it and learn more about its dairy-replacing potential and this recipe was going to give me my first chance to work with such an interesting ingredient

I did not do both steps of the recipe (roasting the broccoli stems) because I started with frozen organic broccoli florets from Costco and did not have any stems to work with. So I guess I am saying I made Charred Broccoli with Peanuts and NOT ROASTED and Charred Broccoli with peanuts. I really, really wish I had the stems.

I usually use fresh veggies when I cook but in the interest of saving some time and money I purchased a HUGE bag of frozen organic broccoli from Costco. Never going to do that again.

I thawed the broccoli before I started the recipe and noticed it was quite soggy. This concerned me. When I began charring the broccoli on the stove top in the cast-iron skillet, the broccoli has SO MUCH moisture in it that is would not easily char. I had to turn up the heat and extend the cooking time. And, the in the end, the broccoli lacked the crispness you typically get when using fresh broccoli.

Other than the soggy, rubbery broccoli, the recipe ingredients worked well together in regards to flavor and the peanuts added a nice texture. The nutritional yeast definitely added a “cheesey” flavor that complimented the other ingredients. I success of this recipe motivates me to explore more with Nutritional Yeast in the near future.

If you love broccoli, definitely give this recipe a try. Here is the link: http://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/roasted-and-charred-broccoli-with-peanuts

Cook. Enjoy. Share.