Eat Your Broccoli

Amazingly flavorful recipe for one of the most nutritious veggies out there, this was a huge favorite of mine from school so far. You can use any mix of nuts you'd like rather than sticking with pecans only.

Ingredients
PECANS
2 Tbs orange zest
¼ tsp sea salt
1 ½ Tbs maple syrup
2 tsp grapeseed oil
¼ tsp red pepper flakes
¼ tsp grated ginger
2 cups pecans

BROCCOLI
2 heads broccoli
½ tsp sea salt
2 Tbs rice vinegar
2 Tbs tamari
1 Tbs mirin
½ tsp sesame oil, toasted
1 tsp maple syrup
1 Tbs sesame oil, untoasted
1 pinch red pepper flakes
3 medium garlic cloves, minced
1 Tbs minced ginger
2 medium scallions, minced

Procedure
1 TO MAKE PECANS: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine the zest, salt, maple syrup, oil, red pepper flakes and ginger in a small bowl and whisk until well blended.

2 Put the nuts in a bowl and pour in the coating mixture. Mix well until the pecans are well coated. Arrange in a single layer on a sheet pan. Bake about 12 minutes until fragrant. Remove and cool to room temperature, they will crisp as they cool. Almonds or walnuts may be substituted for pecans.

3 Remove the florets from the broccoli. Peel the stems until smooth and slice into bite sized pieces. Bring a pot of water to a boil. Add the salt. Blanch the broccoli for 1 minute. Transfer broccoli into a bath of ice water to stop cooking. Strain and reserve. Pat dry with paper towels.

4 Mix vinegar, tamari, mirin, toasted sesame oil and maple syrup together and reserve.

5 Heat a wok over high heat. Add sesame oil, red pepper flakes, ginger, garlic, and scallions. Stir fry until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

6 Add the sauce mixture and simmer until thickened, another 30 seconds or so. Add broccoli and heat through, about 15 seconds. Toss with some zesty pecans and serve right away.

Servings: 12
Author: From "One Bite at a Time" by Rebecca Katz