Green Monday - Broccoli Gratin

As promised, here's The Best Broccoli Recipe ever! And I mean it cause I tried plenty of them.

This one is my favourite, it's both delicious and healthy.

The great thing about this recipe is that it's kind of universal as you can easily replace some ingredient with other if you want to make your gratin more dietetic or just don't have some specific ingredient ready at hand.

And of course it's easy to make. I don't like sophisticated recipes that much :)

Let's start with the basics.

Ingredients:

750 g broccoli (cut in florets)
500 g soft white cheese/sour cream
2 onions (thinly sliced)
3 eggs
3 tbs flour
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese (grated)
3 tbs butter
salt
pepper

Step 1: Preheat the oven to 180-200°C (350-400°F).
Step 2: Cook the broccoli in salted water. You can use these tips on cooking broccoli. Then drain well and arrange in a lightly buttered baking pan.
Step 3: In a small frying pan, saute the onions in 2 tablespoons of butter until fragrant.
Step 4: In a separate bowl, combine the white cheese/sour cream, the eggs, the flour and stir until smooth.
Step 5: Pour the cheese sauce into the baking pan (over the broccoli) and sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese. Bake until the top is golden.

Now here are some of the finer points:

1. How to turn this recipe into more dietetic?
Just choose the low fat white cheese. It works perfectly for this gratin! You may also decide to get rid of that Parmesan topping because of the extra fat. That's ok with me too, but keep in mind that these really few additional calories worth the fine taste.

2. How to diversify the Broccoli Gratin?
Now this is the fun part as you may play with this recipe to your heart's content.
What I usually do:
- Use different kinds of white cheese (feta cheese, cottage cheese, yogurt, sour cream) and mix them all together.
- Add some other veggies to broccoli. A marrow, a pumpkin and a potato are the best matches. Boil other vegetables together with broccoli (step 2). Don't forget that to some veggies it takes more time to get cooked than to the others.
- Mushrooms! Champignons, portobello, porcino - whatever you like - dramatically upgrade this recipe. Cut mushrooms in slices and mix with the onions (Step 3). Add some butter or water, if necessary.

3. How to make this Gratin more spicy?
That's very easy: add some garlic (1-2 minced cloves) to the onions and fry them together (see Step 3). If that's not spicy enough for you, add a hot pepper :)

4. Is this recipe good for kids?
Yes, it is. Though you'd better not make the Gratin too spicy and try to use natural, healthy products.

That's all, nothing complicated but really delicious and healthy dish.

Read Also:

How To Cook Broccoli Properly
Best Green Vegetables for Your Fun & Healthy Diet
Free Organic Vegetable Gardening At Home

How To Cook Broccoli Properly

Here are some tips on cooking broccoli from Allrecipes

Pick the Perfect Floret

What to look for when shopping for broccoli:

The best broccoli will have dark green tops with lighter green stems.
Buds should be tightly closed, with no mushy spots or signs of yellowing.
The stalks should feel firm and crisp, never limp or wobbly.

Cook it, Cook it Good

Perfectly cooked broccoli is an appetizing bright green with a mild, pleasant flavor and a tender but firm texture. To avoid overcooking, uncover once it’s done and serve right away. You can also plunge it into an ice bath to stop the cooking - this will preserve the color, flavor, and nutrients.

And here's one more so you never say broccoli is boring! :)


How To Properly Prepare Broccoli

Read Also:

Top 5 Reasons Why Green Vegetables Are Good For You

How to get your children to eat more veggies
Add Color To Your Diet!

Best Green Vegetables for Your Fun Healthy Diet

Ok, I knew that green vegetables are good for health, I just didn't know how much good they are.

There's so much written about it that I felt a bit lost in all that information. So I decided to start with some research on green vegetables and then continue with my Green Monday Fun and Healthy recipes.

Well, here's my Top 5 Green Vegetables that are not only healthy but also really tasty.

1. Broccoli

It's so dietetic and so healthy and it can also be so yummy if you cook it right. It's high in vitamins C, K, and A, as well as dietary fiber; it also contains multiple nutrients with potent anti-cancer properties, such as diindolylmethane and selenium. Broccoli's also nice: meals with broccoli look like pieces of art. Broccoli definitely gets number 1!

2. Avocado

It's not leafy and actually it's not even a vegetable but it's green, healthy and one of my favorites. Be careful: about 75% of an avocado's calories come from fat (the good one but still fat...) So don't overdoze and everything will be fine.

3. Lettuce

There's no diet without lettuce as it's a great source of fiber and very low in calories. The secret with lettuce is to get the right proportion with other veggies and with a dressing.

4. Cucumber

Simple but good: poor in calories, rich in fiber and vitamins!

5. Spinach

Spinach is known mostly as a rich source of iron and calcium. I have to confess: I'm not really familiar with this one though I know it's full of healthy benefits. Promise to do some homework and to come up with some delicious recipe of spinach :)

Didn't get into the top but also worth mentioning:

Asparagus, Zucchini, Cabbage, Kale, Green Beans, Celery, Green Pepper, Swiss Chard...

Next time I'll share with you a great broccoli recipe - for those who doubt broccoli's culinary values and those who just want to eat healthy and have fun at one time.

Thanks Wikipedia for the help with the research.

Read Also:

Top 5 Reasons Why Green Vegetables Are Good For You
Add Color To Your Diet!
Crack The Code: Unlock Your Weight Loss and Fat Burning Potential