Julie was a late bloomer in the kitchen. She was always too busy, not interested, happy with mac ‘n cheese. Until one day, she wasn’t. That was the day she took her kitchen by storm and the rest is history!

Hard to believe that Julie was a life long vegetable avoider. Now she shops the vegetable section with determination to conquer each and every unknown vegetable. This is how she stumbled on broccolini. This particular batch of broccolini sat in her fridge until she HAD to do something with it—and now. Ever the resourceful recipe creator, she checked her fridge and got to work.

I am the beneficiary of Julie’s delightful broccolini!
Julie’s Delightful Broccolini

Ingredients

• Juice of 1 lemon (~3 tbsp)
• Same amount of maple syrup as the lemon (~3tbsp)
• 1 tbsp olive oil plus spray or brush
• 1 lb broccolini – ends trimmed and big pieces cut in half the long way thru the florets ( to optimize cooking surface area)
• salt (I use 1 tsp) and red pepper flakes (I use 3 shakes) to taste

Directions

1. Heat oven to 375 (or if you’re cooking something else anywhere between 350 and 400 is fine).
2. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with foil and spray or brush it with oil.
3. Mix all ingredients except broccolini in the bottom of a large bowl.
4. Add trimmed and halved broccolini to the bowl and toss well to coat.
5. Place the broccolini as a single layer on the baking sheet – touching is fine but don’t layer.
6. Dump any remaining liquid in bowl across the broccolini on the baking sheet.
7. Bake for 15 minutes – it will be charred in places.
8. Serves 4 as a side dish.

I have to confess that the two of us scarfed up the entire serving for 4. Let me know if you’d like to see more recipes from Julie’s kitchen. I know I sure would!