It's a Christmas Miracle!

I made broccoli and I liked it! What The? Yep, me...the broccoli hater!

This weekend at the Market, we bought a head of broccoli. That's the first golden point there! Farm fresh veggies.

Yeah!

Spicy Stir Fried Broccoli with Garlic

When I cooked it tonight, I started by blanching the veg for 2 minutes in boiling water, followed by a plunge in an ice bath. Drain. When we were ready to have dinner, I put 3 TB of olive oil in a very hot pan. Add 1/2 a tsp of red pepper flakes, stir. Add 6-8 cloves of minced garlic, stir quickly and until fragrant. Add the drained broccoli and toss to coat with the oil, garlic, red pepper and until heated through. About one minute. Season with salt & pepper. Serve immediately!

WOW. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not going to go out of my way to eat this green veg, but for the first time in ages, I thought it was good and not a tasteless, nasty mess. Thanks farmers market.

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I served the broccoli with Chicken Thighs Braised in white wine and spring onions. Very tasty, but horrible to look at in pictures. Season the chicken with salt and pepper, sear the chicken in olive oil until browned. If the skin is still on, remove it after you sear it. This will allow the skin to leave some brown bits in the pan and render some tasty fat. If you braise the chicken with the skin, it will become flabby and nasty. So, remove the skin. And remove the chicken from the pan. Add about 1 cup of diced spring onions (or green onions/scallions, or shallots, or 1/2 cup diced yellow onion). When softened, add 6-8 cloves of garlic, minced. When you smell the garlic, add the 1 cup of dry white wine. Scrape up any bits from the pan and reduce by half. Add 1 cup low-sodium chicken broth. Bring to a simmer. Add the chicken back to the pan. The chicken should be covered half way. Cover the pan and simmer over low heat for 25-30 minutes. Done. Serve hot and spoon some remaining braising liquid over the chicken.

With rice if you like.

And yes, the spring onions came from the market!