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If there’s one thing that we always leave until the last minute when planning our holiday meals, it’s the green vegetable. Compared to the more indulgent dishes on our table, the green vegetable can be an afterthought, but it’s actually an essential component of balancing out the richness of the rest of the food on offer, not just nutritionally speaking, but flavor wise — without a bit of fresh green flavor on the table, the other dishes can fall flat. So what to do if you’ve left planning your green vegetable side dish until the last minute? Look no further than Ina Garten‘s roasted broccolini with panko gremolata. The Modern Comfort Food author knows a thing or two about making easy recipes that seem elegant and fancy, and this one is no different.
Don’t be afraid based on the name of the dish alone. Broccolini isn’t so different from broccoli in flavor. It’s actually a hybrid of broccoli and Chinese broccoli, with a sweeter flavor than what you might be used too, thinner stems than the stalks of a head of regular broccoli, and with smaller florets and edible leaves, too. As for the panko gremolata, that’s basically just a fancy way of saying seasoned breadcrumbs, and the breadcrumbs are Japanese panko rather than the pre-seasoned Italian kind you buy in a cardboard carton.
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Cooking the recipe is simple. The broccolini is roasted with olive oil, salt, and pepper for about 15 minutes. While that’s in the oven, the panko breadcrumbs get toasted in olive oil on the stove top until golden-brown, and then get tossed with pine nuts and lemon zest.
To serve, squeeze some lemon juice over the broccolini, then top with the gremolata. You could serve the gremolata with any green vegetable, really, from your standard broccoli to green beans, wilted kale, green buttered peas, steamed snap peas, and more. Thanks to this super easy side dish recipe from Ina Garten, your holiday table will never have to go without a green vegetable, even if you forget about it until the last minute.
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