A super simple and crazy delicious side dish that takes less than 30 minutes to prepare and is bursting with big, bold flavors. This humble dish is sure to be the star of any meal!
I love a good, flavorful, and healthy vegetable side dish. I think sometimes veggies can get a bad rap because they aren’t prepared properly (like boiled Brussels….yuck). But if you make them correctly, they can be magic!
My mother-in-law’s roasted veggies are a great example of this. My father-in-law is a master with a sous vide and on the grill. He makes some wonderful and perfectly tender steaks and briskets that are awe worthy.
My mother-in-law is usually in charge of the side dish and typically makes roasted veggies (whatever she has on hand) with balsamic glaze drizzle. After every one of these family meals, my father-in-law always exclaims how the meat turned out perfectly but somehow the veggies still steal the show. And he is totally right! The way my mother-in-law gets a perfect caramelization and char on the veggies, adds the perfect amount of seasoning, and finishes with a rich, luscious balsamic glaze, just makes them so darn delicious!
This is proof to not underestimate the power of a good veggie dish!
My mother-in-law’s roasted veggies are epic….but I have a new side dish that will also prove the power of the humble veggie side dish.
Enter my roasted broccolini with garlic, parmesan, and charred lemon. This dish takes less than 20 minutes to make but packs a huge flavor punch. The broccolini is crispy and perfectly charred and seasoned with beautiful flavors like garlic, lemon, red pepper, and parmesan cheese. It’s truly is a symphony of flavor that will make you addicted to this dish.
Let’s get to cooking!
The beauty of this simple dish is in the process of how you prepare it. A few tricks helps make it perfect, like pre-heating the sheet pan before roasting and adding some of the ingredients halfway through instead of at the beginning.
First, pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees and add the sheet pan to the oven while it heats up so the sheet pan gets hot. Toss the broccolini with olive oil, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. Cut the lemon in half.
Let’s talk about broccolini for a minutes. It’s different than regular broccoli and I prefer it! It’s a lanky vegetable hybrid of Chinese broccoli and regular broccoli. It has long, thin stalks and small, tender florets, which are both edible. It’s less bitter than regular broccoli and has a sweeter, milder, more earthy flavor, which is why I love it!
Once the oven is pre-heated, take out the sheet pan and add the seasoned broccolini and lemon halves, flesh side down. The heat from the sheet pan will help to start caramelizing and charring the lemons and broccolini. This saves cooking time and adds so much flavor. Roast the broccolini for 8 minutes.
Take the broccolini out of the open and flip. Now at this time, add the garlic, almonds, and shredded parmesan cheese. You add them half way through, and not at the beginning, to ensure these ingredients do not burn. It takes just about 10 minutes for the parmesan cheese to get caramelized and crispy, the garlic to become fragrant, and the almonds to brown and toast. Any more time will make these ingredients burn and add an acrid flavor to the dish.
Remove from oven and transfer broccolini to a serving platter. Squeeze the charred lemon over the roasted broccolini. Charring the lemon helps make it juicier and a little bit sweeter. Plus, looks fancy and cool!
Bam! You’re done! Less than 30 minutes and you have yourself a flavorful, healthy, gluten-free, vegetarian, nutrient-rich side dish. MAGIC!
This easy, quick side dish looks elegant and fancy. It’s a perfect accompaniment to a weeknight meal or as a side at a sophisticated dinner party. Either way, it is sure to be a crowd pleaser and take away the spotlight from any main dish!
Roasted Broccolini with garlic, parmesan, and charred lemon
Ingredients
- 1/2 pound broccolini
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 3 gloves garlic thinly sliced
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes more or less to taste
- 1 lemon
- 2 tablespoons shredded parmesan cheese
- 2 tablespoons almonds
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Heat a sheet pan in the oven while it preheats. Drizzle broccolini with olive oil and toss to cost. Season with salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes.
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Add broccolini and the lemon, cut in half, flesh side down, to the hot sheet pan. Roast for 8 minutes.
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Flip the broccolini and add garlic, parmesan cheese, and almonds. Roast for another 8-10 minutes or until cheese melts and caramelizes, garlic is fragrant, and almonds get toasty.
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Transfer roasted broccolini to serving dish. Finish by squeezing the charred lemon on top.**
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Serve and enjoy!
Recipe Notes
*I add garlic, almonds, and cheese half way through the cooking process so they do not burn, but cook perfectly. Do not add it at the beginning or it may burn.
**If the lemon is not charred enough to your liking after roasting, you can add it to a heated dry skillet to achieve a darker caramelization.
