Mmm... Broccoli

I might be one of the few people out there that's actually a broccoli lover. It's definitely my favorite green vegetable, and given that it's high in iron, I try to keep some around the house at all times. I like to dress it up or prepare it in different ways, just to create some variety when I keep eating the same vegetable over and over again. Here's one of my favorites!

Broccoli Palomino

Where does the name Palomino come from? From the fabulous restaurant that used to be located in the LaSalle building in downtown Minneapolis. A couple of times, during a summer I spent working downtown, I went to lunch with coworkers at Palomino. While the restaurant is typically out of my price range for dinner, lunch there was quite reasonable. (Happy hour was also, with cheap mojitos, but alas, those days are over as well...) My favorite thing on the menu was a salad with spring greens, goat cheese, toasted pumpkin seeds, olive oil and a lemon wedge. I made something similar to that at home for myself several times over a bed of lettuce but eventually I decided to try it over broccoli. It was a miracle!

To make this at your house, these are the ingredients you'll need. I substituted pine nuts for the toasted pumpkin seeds, mostly because they're easier to locate. I also added the croutons for some crunch. I sometimes use a squirt of lemon juice, either from a lemon or from a bottle, depending on what's around. Last night, it was a lemon-free version.

The directions are simple: prepare the broccoli however you want to. I buy it already in the bag, chopped up, so I steam it in the bag based on the package directions. Steaming or boiling it on the stove or in the microwave would be fine. I wouldn't recommend using sauteed broccoli because I think this tastes better with something a little softer. I then add the ingredients in this order: nuts, cheese, croutons, oil, lemon juice. I make sure to do this when the broccoli is hot so that everything gets a little bit warmed up: the cheese melts, the nuts soften and the croutons get just a bit less crunchy. Enjoy!