Grilled Broccoli with Herbed Butter

It's hot in Alabama.  It's hot everywhere.  It's that time of year you just want to not move...at all...ever.

Our air conditioner must not be working at peak efficiency.  It regularly gets up to the mid 80's during the day with the A/C running non-stop (not looking forward to our utility bill--eek!)  The point is, I've placed a restriction on the use of the oven until things cool off.

Before moving to Alabama I didn't really worry about whether a meal was going to heat up the house.  These days, however, I put a lot of my meal planning energy into thinking about that very thing.  Unfortunately, that means no more roasted vegetables.  And that is a very sad thing.

Have no fear, the grill is here!

  

There is just one word I have for grilled broccoli and that word is...fan-tas-tic!

 I wish I could say we were a house full of broccoli lovers, but sadly, that would be a lie.  The kid won't touch it.  He's got a special face he reserves for when I serve him broccoli.  He maintains that face until the broccoli is safe on the floor, where it belongs.  Sigh!  I wasn't going to have a picky eater.

The husband and I though, we love it.   We love our broccoli steamed, roasted, sauteed, boiled... but we especially enjoy our broccoli grilled.

Something magical happens to broccoli when you grill it over charcoal.  I don't really know how else to describe it using any other word then magic.  Broccoli itself is a pretty magical vegetable.  It's high in vitamin C, calcium and vitamin K (good for bone health and the prevention of osteoporosis), cancer fighting antioxidants, fiber, cataract preventing carotenoid lutein, and immune boosting properties.  For these reasons I do manage to sneak some broccoli into the bubs diet (he'll eat almost anything if it looks like a pancake *maniacal laughter*). 

When you toss the broccoli with this butter infused with lemon and basil it tastes like summer.  A delicious and healthy summer.  So next time you get out your grill, pass on the boring grilled zucchini and try grilled broccoli instead.  You won't be sorry. 

Grilled Broccoli with Herbed Butter

serves 4 (or less depending on your love for broccoli)

Ingredients:

4 tbs. butter, softened

1 tsp. lemon juice

1 1/2 tbs chopped fresh basil

1/4 tsp. garlic powder

3 cups of fresh broccoli florets

1 tbs. olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Heat the grill to medium-high

2. Combine the butter, lemon juice, basil, and garlic powder.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Set aside.

3. Toss the broccoli with the olive oil in a large bowl.  Season to taste with salt and pepper. 

4. Transfer to heated grill and grill for about 10 minutes stirring every few minutes.  The broccoli should have grill marks but not be burned.  

5. Transfer grilled broccoli to a serving dish and toss with some of the herbed butter*.

   *you won't need all of it, I normally only use a tablespoon or so--but I won't judge you if you use more.  

What the husband thinks:  he loved this stuff almost as much as I did.  You should have seen the two of us sneaking bites while waiting for the chicken to finish cooking.  We both are avid broccoli fans.  We should start a fan club.

What the kid ate: not the broccoli.  It lasted about ten seconds on his tray before being promptly dropped to the ground.  He ate grilled sweet potatoes (recipe to come), the kid loves his sweet potatoes.  

If you don't want to make the butter, this is fantastic straight off the grill.