Ready in just 15 minutes, it’s the perfect side dish that literally goes with anything! Broccoli is one of the vegetables I make regularly for my family. It’s an easy choice because it’s delicious, and everyone likes it (or at least tolerates it) - including The Picky Eater. There are all kinds of fancy ways to prepare broccoli, such as beef and broccoli, roasted broccoli, and broccoli quiche. This steamed broccoli is one of my favorites, as long as it remains tender-crisp.
Ingredients
Recipe Card
Fresh broccoli: When I want to make my life easy, I buy a bag of pre-washed broccoli florets. Since these florets come in different sizes, if you go this route, you should cut the biggest ones to ensure they are all about the same size. Fresh lemon juice: It’s better than bottled - fresher-tasting and more flavorful. Olive oil: I love drizzling this tasty oil on the broccoli. Extra-virgin olive oil tastes best. To season: Kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper, and garlic powder.
Add 1 inch of water to a saucepan and bring to a boil. Rinse the broccoli. Use a vegetable peeler to peel the stalks. Cut the broccoli into bite-size florets and pieces and place them in a steamer basket. Carefully place the steamer basket in the saucepan and cover. Steam the broccoli until tender-crisp. Start checking after 5 minutes. As soon as a fork can easily pierce the stalks, the broccoli is done and should be removed from the saucepan. Place the broccoli in a bowl. Pour the dressing on top and gently mix. Serve immediately. It’s tempting to keep the broccoli warm by keeping it in the steaming basket, covered. But that’s a mistake. It’s better to enjoy crisp broccoli at room temperature than to suffer through mushy, limp, warm broccoli! So, as soon as the broccoli is ready, remove it onto a platter. Dress it with the olive oil-lemon dressing, loosely cover it with foil, and serve it when the rest of the meal is ready. Unless you prefer broccoli with cheese sauce, in which case the broccoli should be the last thing you make. You want the cheese sauce warm and gooey.
Broccoli Bunches vs Crowns
When I make roasted broccoli, I like to get broccoli bunches - those are sold with the thick stalk attached - because I can then make roasted broccoli stems, which are delicious. But when steaming broccoli, I prefer to use broccoli crowns - those are just the heads; the stems have been cut off. Steamed broccoli stems are not as good as roasted, so this way, I only pay for what I’m actually going to use.
Pork roast Baked chicken breast Baked salmon Pan-fried salmon. Pulled chicken Turkey burgers Grilled halibut Sauteed shrimp, as shown in the photo below.
It’s also excellent with a couple of fried or poached eggs as a tasty and filling meatless lunch. Sometimes, I add them cold to a salad. They are great in this turkey salad and make an excellent addition to tomato salad.
