I just got back from a week in London, and the first thing I need to mention is how rad it is. Besides being one of the most culturally diverse and historically rich places I’ve ever visited, it has one mean food scene. Even as a discerning vegetarian you can get a tasty, non-compromising meal on almost every corner. And their take-out situation is a whole other ballgame with salad bars, healthy sandwich joints, and juice and smoothie stands all over the place. Why can’t the rest of the world get on board with this idea of wholesome “fast food”? It takes longer to stand in line at a burger joint waiting to get your nuggets deep fried, than it does to scoop organic quinoa pilaf into a to-go box. Am I right?
Enter Ottolenghi, my newfound obsession. This past summer I compulsively forked over $40 for the extremely sexy cookbook, Plenty by Yottam Ottolenghi because the pictures were hot. Thank goodness the recipes actually live up to their visuals. Ottolenghi is the creator of four London-based eateries, the majority of which are take-out restaurants (there is only one sit-down place). He wrote the book after his vegetarian column in the Guardian, and because a great deal of enthused customers began requesting the recipes. Knowing how much this cookbook rocks my world, I couldn’t wait to get into the place to actually experience the food first hand. Thank goodness it actually lives up to the pedestal I’ve put it upon. And the concept is brilliant: fresh, delicious, healthy take-out where the menu changes with the seasons and the items are always adventurous. He’s mixing up tahini with lime juice and chilies, throwing pomegranate and roasted pistachios onto eggplant, grilling sweet potatoes like steaks with earthy spices and bright citrus. Ottolenghi is a culinary poet elevating take-out to a level of luscious sophistication, and my heart is stolen. The book, the cafés, the food, it’s all divine. Now all we have to do is convince him to go global.
This simple broccoli dish was inspired by one of many delights I tried at Ottolenghi, and although it is not in the cookbook, I’ve tried to recreate as best I could for you. Yes, I realize that I posted a roasted carrot recipe just a couple weeks ago, but this was a revelation. Roasted broccoli is a revelation. If you’re like me and in a broccoli rut, not really digging on steaming or eating it raw, get on board and rejoice in the nuttiness, the tender-crisp sensation, the glory of tasting broccoli again for the first time!
Spicy Roasted Broccoli with Almonds
serves 2
Ingredients:
1 large head broccoli (organic if you can get it)
¼ cup whole almonds
Dressing:
6 cloves garlic, sliced
2 Tbsp. minced ginger
1 tsp. fresh, hot chili, sliced (more or less, to suit your taste)
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. tamari
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Wash broccoli well, then remove the very end of the stem. Slice the entire head of broccoli and remaining stem in half down the center lengthwise, then cut each half in half again. Repeat until you have relatively small slices of broccoli tops with long stems. Place in a large bowl.
2. Prepare dressing and pour over broccoli. Using your hands, massage the dressing into the broccoli making sure it is well coated. Place broccoli on a baking sheet and set in the oven.
3. On a separate baking sheet, place almonds and set in the oven below the broccoli.
4. Roast broccoli and almonds for 15-20 minutes (the almonds will probably need less time), until the broccoli is just turning golden brown on the edges.
5. Remove everything from oven. Roughly chop almonds on a cutting board. Plate broccoli, season to taste. Sprinkle with chopped almonds. Serve.
This would make a fabulous side dish for any meal, especially Thanksgiving dinner. Even though I am not in Canada, I will be celebrating over here in Denmark this weekend with plenty of Plenty, and of course, Spicy Roasted Broccoli with Almonds.
OMG!! Mmmmmmm,! I’ve made roasted spicy green beans but never thought of broccoli which we eat a lot of. My new fav.
Hi, I am a first time visitor to your blog. I recently saw a recipe for roasted marinated broccoli on a veg magazine from the states. I did not have all the ingredients so just kinda made up my own marinade, much the same ingredients as yours but I added garam masala, yogurt, lemon juice to it. I am marinating overnight and will roast tomorrow evening, will let you know how the family reacts to it. Next time will tryout vegan version.
Delicious recipe, just made my wife very satisfied after a long day at work. Thanks!
Yummy!
I made this for my mama after a long day at work and we looooved the spicyness, the crunch absolutely everything!
Unfortunatly she is restricted to eat cruciferous vegetables but she enjoyed every bite of it~
Great thanks!
Sarah, I am thrilled to have found My New Roots! A friend mentioned your blog and how I would love it & should try your amazing Life Changing Bread.
I have been more than inspired, your passion for Whole Foods has re engined a flame for cooking within me.
Today after making your tropical granola bars ( a great snack for a husband who builds houses ) and life changing bread, I decided to open my fridge and make a wonderful Wholefoods lunch for the family. I cooked up a pot of red quinoa, with a handful of chopped herbs from the garden folded through, then I used the dressing from Ottolenghi’s cucumber salad with smashed garlic and ginger (p 166) on my warm blanched broccoli with toasted sesame seeds & grilled haloumi, with a green salad on the table.
To then find this recipe, I was well pleased, I love Ottolenghi’s Plenty, and now have another smashing recipe for broccoli.
Thank you for sharing your passion, thank you for your inspiration, I am excited to keep cooking from My New Roots. Awesome
We cooked this with Lebanese 7 spice rubbed chicken and baby potatoes boiled with lemon which we squeezed over and a dollop of natural yoghurt. Delicious! And 19 weight watchers points!
Thank you!
mais quel régal !!!!!!! je suis fan des brocolis mais je n’avais jamais testé au four ! délicieux !!!!!!! (si des visiteurs viennent de bodybuilding.com c’est normal, j’ai mis un lien vers la recette ^^)
Merci merci merci !!!!!
Mjaaaaam! Delicious! I love broccoli but only if its nice and crunchy and not so soft that you don’t have to chew. This recipe is perfect!
Yum! I wanted to make this for a Thanksgiving side but just got my wisdom teeth out and am severely restricted in my chewing capacities 🙁 So I blended this up with 2 cups of almond milk, a dash of miso for flavour and a tablespoon of tahini for butteryness and yum! Even if I missed out on the turkey I got to have this 🙂
two for $1 broccoli at my local market meant a delicious dinner of your roasted broccoli, and then a delicious millet pilaf on the side. SO good!! I just blended up all the dressing ingredients in my magic bullet and tossed them over. I even forgot the almonds and it was super tasty! (dinner times are never very cohesive with a 5 month old…)
I am soooo crazy about broccoli…dont ask me why:-) however I am not allowed to cook it at home as my better half does not stand the smell….as he is away this weekend I got inspired by your recipe and had a great broccoli diner:-))) I had eaten too many nuts earlier today, so I had to skip the almonds, but added some fresh peas…vrey green+yumyum:-)
thank you so MUCH!
Trying this tonight.
I love Ottolenghi too! I have both his books, and actually prefer the first one slightly over Plenty as the ingredient lists are a little shorter!
I’ve adapted the wonderful broccoli recipe too and just can’t get enough of it either!
Here’s my blog post on it: http://www.rubyrhino.co.uk/blog/2011/07/make-it-roast-brocolli-with-chilli-and-garlic/
Hi Sarah, I am a big fan of your blog! I have just started a course in naturopathic nutrition which I am loving… your blog is a great source of inspiration. This broccoli dish looks delicious – I am going to give it a go tonight.
I agree; Ottolenghi is wonderful, I don’t live too far from his place in Islington – such a treat!!
Sarah, you’ve done it to me again! Thank you for this! The aroma of the dressing is gorgeous, and of course the whole thing just tastes like heaven to me. (I also used green beans in my version.)
WOW! This looks really yummy… I love spicy foods. I would definitely try this. Thanks!
root planing
New to your blog but really happy to hear that you loved London…. my home for 13 years before moving to San Francisco! I also spent a year out of my London time living in Copenhagen – I lived on Gammel Dansk… are your restaurants in the City Center?? So nice to connect….
I love Ottolenghi (played around with that eggplant and tahini recipe recently) and adore roasted broccoli, one of my favorite ways of eating it. Will try this for sure.
This book is really tempting me, too.I keep seeing recipes inspired by the book around foodblogs and I really want to cook my way trhough it. My daily meals are almost all vegetables and I’d love to try new recipes. Your blog is already a great inspiration for this! Thanks for sharing this recipe! Broccoli are in season in Italy now, and oh so fresh and tasty…Can’t wait to try this!
Thanks for the recipe ! this is going to be what I bring for thanksgiving dinner tomorrow .
Trev’s at work tonight and my family’s out of town, so I’m making myself the Plenty mushroom ragout with poached egg and a rice pudding for Thanksgiving dinner 🙂
Hi Sarah
So glad you loved London. I lived there for 15 years in my pre vegan days and am fascinated to hear about the healthy food revolution that seems to have sprung up. If you’re ever back there and in Soho, there’s a fab vegetarian restaurant/ take out place aptly named Beetroot.
Love the idea for roast broccoli – not a fan of raw, and getting jaded with steamed. Am definitely going to try this..
I also love Ottolenghi, and used to read his Guardian recipes avidly. Will definitely be tagging his books for Xmas present requests.
Kate
I love that book, it was a birthday present from a friend who lives in London (by the way, I’m pretty sure you’d like her recipe website http://cafesigrun.co.uk/ You two have a lot in common!). Anyway, I’m definitely eating at Ottolenghi the next time I visit.
Have a wonderful weekend and thanks for all your inspiring posts and recipes 😉
yum! I made this tonight! I found 400 a little too high temp though.. next time I’ll roast it at 390 or so.
Thanks!!!
Hey friends!
So happy you are on the Yotam train with me – I don’t feel so foolish for gushing.
And thank you to Janet with the link to the original recipe. I surprisingly wasn’t that far off!
Love and broccoli,
Sarah B
This looks really good — I’m a sucker for broccoli with Asian flavors when I’m not eating it in pasta with feta and lemon juice.
Looks great, Sarah! I agree that Ottolenghi is amazing. 🙂
I think his chargrilled recipe is in his first cookbook, though: http://gourmettraveller.wordpress.com/2009/09/21/chargrilled-broccoli-with-chilli-and-garlic/
I like your version better because there is less oil. 😉
I am definitely making this broccoli. We roasted carrots the other day and loved them. They were so beautiful, I had to slip away with the tray and photograph them. I need simple healthy dishes that sometimes I just make the main meal with some good bread. Doesn’t always work with a growing teen boy but…sometimes it does. We’ll be in London next week! I am so excited!
I love Ottolenghi!! I’ve just moved from New York, where the food (and take-out options) for vegans are AMAZING and arrived in Brussels where I’m struggling to fine even a healthy salad! And I’ve had to go without my green juices too – can’t wait for them to catch on over here! BUT, I am moving to London on Saturday and I really can’t wait. I love love love the city, and the food is such a great reflection of how multicultural and vibrant the city is. So glad you enjoyed it! Even more exciting, I have juicer waiting at my new house for me…
Hi Sarah – New to your blog, and also an Ottolenghi nut. He has a recipe for roasted broccoli in his first cookbook, Ottolenghi, and the first time my husband made it for me, I wanted to marry him all over again. Seriously, this transcends broccoli! We live in one of the other food capitals of the world (Penang, Malaysia) but I also crave the kind of cooking/takeout you write about here. That’s why we have our Laksa for a dollar on the corner and Ottolenghi favorites at home with our market-fresh veg. 🙂 Laurel
This looks great Sarah! I haven’t had roasted broccoli in ages and I can’t wait to give this a try. Glad you had a great time in London! I’m going to have to hunt down that cookbook for myself. Thanks for sharing!
This is crazy – I bought PLENTY only hours ago from Book Depository! So pleased it has the SB seal of approval. Extra excited now!
Happy weekend!
xLouise
PS I’ve been making a huge batch of your walnut mix from the Raw Tacos recipe almost every second day. It goes with EVERYTHING!!!
When I was living in London (6 years ago) Ottolneghis place at Kensington High Street was my weekend place to go – to grab some mouthwatering, heart-jumping food in a box and walk over to Hide Park for a delicious pic-nic, while watching the little boys playing football…
It happend several time that I stood in the take-away-shop with a notebook and a pencil and tried to find out the ingredients to be able to go home and cook like him :-)) So I was so happy when he published his books. I have both of them and it’s like with your blog: entering into a new world. A known world, but never really found the door to it.
Thanks to you, Sarah and thanks to Yotam – Cheers!!