Oh Broccoli, you're so saucey.

I was gifted a Costco size bag of broccoli florets last Friday and have spent the subsequent week working out ways to eat them and glean all that broccoli goodness. However, as someone who is not a fan of the cheddar broccoli combo nor a fan of quiche (especially quiche with broccoli! yikes.) there are a limited amount of recipes that tempted me. I very much enjoy our friend, broccoli on its own merits, but wanted to mix it up and see what sauteing could do to one of my favorite vegetables.

I started yesterday with making a peanut sauce. It was pretty tasty and easy to prepare. Those packets and jars in the store are so expensive and I was able to make this with all ingredients I had to hand... with a few modifications which I will note below:

Broccoli in Peanut Sauce

The Sauce

• 1/2 cup unprocessed peanut butter (I used almond butter)
• 1/2 cup hot water
• 1/4 cup cider vinegar
• 2 tablespoons tamari (I used soy sauce)
• 2 tablespoons blackstrap molasses
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

The Saute

• 1 (1 lb) bunch fresh broccoli
• 3 tablespoons oil
• 8 cloves garlic, minced (yay! ( love garlic!)
• 1 lb tofu, cut into small cubes (I omitted this and it was delicious)
• 3 dashes salt
• 2 cups thinly-sliced onions
• 1 cup coarsely-chopped raw peanuts (or almonds)
• 2 -3 tablespoons tamari (or soy sauce)

Directions:

1. In a small saucepan, whisk together the peanut butter and hot water until uniform in consistency.
2. Whisk in the remaining ingredients. Set aside.
3. Cut off the bottom half-inch of the broccoli stems and dice them into bite sized slices; it works well to cut the stalks diagonally into thin slices and coarsely chop the flowerettes.
4. Set aside.
5. Begin heating the large skillet. When it is hot add 1 tbsp of the oil.
6. Add half the garlic and salt lightly
7. Sauté over medium heat for 1 minute, then add the tofu chunks (if using)
   
8. Turn the heat up a little, and stir-fry the tofu for 5-8 minutes.
9. Transfer it, including whatever liquid it might have expressed, to the saucepanful of peanut sauce.
10. Mix together gently.
11. Add the remaining garlic to the now empty pan.
12. Add the onions, and some black pepper and sauté, stirring frequently, over medium heat, until the onions are soft.
13. On another burner, begin heating the peanut-tofu sauce on a low heat. It shouldn't actually cook-it only needs to be warmed through. Add the broccoli and the chopped peanuts (or slivered almonds) to the skillet.
14. Add 2-3 tbsp tamari (soy sauce) and stir-fry over medium-high heat until the broccoli is bright green and just tender.
15. Pour the heated peanut sauce over the sauté.
16. Toss everything gently until everything is coated with everything else.
17. Serve over long-grained white or brown rice (basmati is good).

So that is the fancy way of doing it with lots of directions. I just kind of put it all in the pan, sauteed and added the sauce and simmered. Either way... delicious!

Alright, but the real winner for the evening was the Broccolli in Garlic Sauce... was very nice. I would have taken a picture, but we ate it too quickly.

Broccoli in Garlic Sauce

Ingredients:

• 1 onion, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• approx 2 cups broccoli, chopped
• 1 can of chick peas or whatever beans you have around.
  
• 1 1/2 tsp ginger powder (a little fresh ginger finely diced made a good addition)
  
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 3 tbsp corn starch
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1 cup water

Preparation:

In a large skillet (or whatever pan you have. I only have one... so that is what I use and it still turns out well) sautee onions and garlic in olive oil until onions turn clear, about 3-5 minutes.

Add the chickpeas, ginger, cayenne and broccoli to the pan and continue to cook until broccoli is done, another 6-8 minutes.

In a separate small bowl, mix together the corn starch, soy sauce and water, then add this mixture to the broccoli and chickpeas. Cook until sauce thickens, then remove from heat. At this point I added a little freshly chopped basil I had in the garden, about 1/4 cup. It was a good addition.

I served this over brown rice and it goes beautifully together. Though, I imagine over noodles or quinoa it would also be a treat.

Now that I (and you!) know how to make these sauces I believe they will go with many seasonal vegetables. They are cheap, cheerful and easy to make in less than 20 minutes (except for waiting for rice to cook.) A dinner time win!