Almond Broccoli

I have not done a Wednesday post in quite a while, it's part of the supporting my husband making a mad dash to the finish line with his thesis. When I start again, I was planning on making a vegetable post every other week. Instead, I have just joined The Healthy Mom's Magazine contributors and will be posting vegetable recipes on their site. Last week I posted a Spinach and Pear Salad recipe - you should check it out, I am in love with that salad!

However, before I decided on contributing to that site, I edited all these photos below and used my blog signature, so I had to post this recipe here. I hope you all enjoy it!

I first made this recipe for a pot luck dinner with some friends around Christmas. I think I double or tripled the recipe and it flew out of the pan. I, personally, love when vegetables fly out of the pan. I recently made it again, and while my son did not eat it, all four adults at the dinner did. There was no broccoli left over. This is an amazing happening at my parent's house. My dad seems to think he is limited to eating 1-1/2 cups of vegetables per day... or perhaps it just seems like that sometimes. Luckily my husband does eat his veggies... although he eats more of them when I dish them out than when he does.

This dish does require a bit more attention than just boiling the vegetables so it can not be an 'afterthought' addition to a meal. However, it does make a delicious addition to any meal. If you are concerned about calories you can cut down the amount of butter you add.

Almond Broccoli

 Make sure you have about 1-1/2 pounds of broccoli, cooked (or about 5 cups). Place it in the dish you are planning on serving it in. *Note: you will be pouring hot juices over it so make sure the dish you've selected can withstand the heat.*

In a medium saucepan, melt 1 cube (1/2 cup) butter.

Bring to a boil.

Then cook until the butter turns brown, about 2 minutes.

You'll want to swirl the butter in the pan during the last minute.

Then add 1/2 cup orange juice to the butter.

Be careful as you are adding liquid to hot oil, it will splatter a bit.

Once the bubbling has died down, remove the pan from the heat.

Next, add 1 tsp orange zest to the pan.

Stir well.

Pour over broccoli.

Be sure to move the stream around to coat as much broccoli as you can.

Toss the broccoli to coat all pieces in the orange burnt butter.

You'll also want some toasted almonds.

Simply place them in a pan over medium heat,

Tossing the nuts as they start to brown to keep them from burning.

Add toasted nuts to the broccoli.

Serve warm.

Enjoy!