Broccoli with Peanut Sauce

I’d eat anything if it’s dipped in peanut sauce. In fact, I ate all of the broccoli in this recipe by myself, in one sitting, for a weeknight dinner last week. It was delicious and I really liked the chile in the tangy nutty sauce. I typically do not use chile pepper in a peanut sauce. (I used 1/2 medium jalapeño.)

I prefer steaming broccoli to boiling it. Boiled broccoli florets hold a lot of water and draining them in a colander is often not enough—you almost have to pick up each spear and shake the water out of the floret or dab it on a tea towel.

Since the recipe says to serve the broccolini warm (i.e. do not shock it in ice water after cooking), I feel 2 minutes of cooking time would be more appropriate. Without any cooling process, the broccoli kept cooking. So by the time I served it was softer than I prefer.

This recipe is delicious and healthful and a great way to introduce people to broccolini. It comes together in minutes but presents gorgeously. My guests loved it, simply picking up the long stems that were perfectly tender, dunking, and eating the broccolini whole.

It had a very Thai-influenced flavor and would pair wonderfully with other Thai tapas-style dishes, such as spring rolls, satay, fried ribs, lettuce wraps, etc.

This is a very yummy sauce that I think you could put on any number of vegetables—it’s great with broccoli but I could also see eating it with cucumbers, celery, bell peppers, even mixing it into stir-fries.

The recipe is very simple and, seeing as it’s multi-purpose (at least in my opinion), I think it could be a summer go-to when the weather’s hot and you want a cool snack. Loved it!

I found the peanut sauce to be delightful with the lime, peanut butter, and pepper taking the lead with hints of ginger, garlic, and soy.

The only changes I made to the sauce is I opted for the olive oil in place of the sesame oil. I did add the teaspoon of toasted sesame oil. Sesame oil, toasted or not, is one of those ingredients that can ruin a dish for me. I do like a hint of it, though. I used a very small serrano pepper, so small it wouldn’t even register on the scale at the market so they gave it to me for free. Size obviously didn’t matter as I got a big surprise when I tasted the sauce. That was the hottest serrano pepper I’ve ever had so I added a little more honey to balance it out.

I’m a huge fan of broccoli. Not only for its health benefits but its versatility as well. I’ve made chicken satay many times, usually accompanied by a vegetable fried rice with lots of broccoli. However, it never dawned on me to make broccoli the star with the sauce. I used to only eat the florets, but I have come to love the stems equally as much. Now I keep a few inches of the stem on and use a vegetable peeler to remove the tough layer.

I couldn’t resist grilling up a few skewers of chicken. This made for a very satisfying meal and the broccoli with the sauce stole the show.