Roasted Broccoli with Garlic and Parmesan

Yum
If you ever want to jazz up a dinner vegetable, roasting vegetables is great. A while back we were invited to our daughter's for dinner and Ginny made this wonderful roasted broccoli dish. My dish is an homage to that. We love roasted cauliflower and broccoli as well as a host of other vegetables. This is a way to probably get your kids to eat either of the aforementioned vegetables. What kid doesn't like Parmesan cheese?

The broccoli takes on another dimension of flavor when you roast it. It's nuttier in taste and certainly a healthier way to cook it rather than boiling out all of the good nutrients in this vegetable. According to a website whfoods.org, they have this to say about broccoli:

"It is a very good source of dietary fiber, pantothenic acid, vitamin B6, vitamin E, manganese, phosphorus, choline, vitamin B1, vitamin A (in the form of carotenoids), potassium, and copper. Broccoli is also a good source of vitamin B1, magnesium, omega-3 fatty acids, protein, zinc, calcium, iron, niacin, and selenium."

The Roasted Broccoli with Garlic and Parmesan is a snap to prepare and roasts in about 30-40 minutes in the oven. We were having an all oven baked dinner last night: shake and bakish style pork chops, baked potatoes and this wonderful roasted broccoli.

To coordinate I put the medium sized potatoes in the 425° oven first and set a timer for 35 minutes. When the alarm sounded I added the sheet pans of broccoli and chops in at the same time as they all bake at that same temperature and just about the same amount of time. I ended up pulling out the broccoli and the potatoes a little earlier than the chops and kept them covered with foil while the chops baked the last 5 minutes. That coordination made my life so much easier.

For our dinner I had one small head of broccoli I roasted and there was enough for 2-3 portions. This is what that one head yielded in florets as pictured below.

• 1 small head broccoli
• 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 cloves fresh minced garlic or 1 1/4 tsp. granulated garlic
• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• salt to taste (be sparing as the cheese is salty)
• black pepper to taste

1. In a bowl toss the broccoli with the cheese, spices and oil and mix well.
2. Lay out on a foil lined baking sheet.
3. Bake in a preheated 425° oven for about 30 minutes.