How To Eat Your Vegetables, Part Deux: The Professionals Weigh In

About now you should be sick to death of zucchini, especially if you have a garden or a farm share (which I do. It's a never ending burden BECAUSE HOW CAN ONE PERSON EAT 8 EGGPLANTS A WEEK?)

I find zucchini to be mostly unoffensive -- but its bland and can be slimy and its way too watery. My mom used to go to the spa and then come back inspired to make us low-calorie soups -- grating a raw zucchini into chicken bouillon, for instance. Pretty good, actually. And when you are sick of roasting your tiny zucchinis (they must be small) in a low sided pan with lots of freshly grated Parmesan until they are brown, or sick of frying them, or sick of making ratatouille (aforementioned eggplant, zuchs, yellow squash, lots of onion and garlic and crushed tomatoes, baked forever or cooked on the stove, as you wish) (with cheese on top) or are sick of just looking at them, make this, courtesy of the gorgeous and increasingly stern Padma Lakshmi.

That's what Padma looks like. Deeply unfair to the rest of us. Here's what the zucchini looks like.

http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/sauteed-zucchini-with-ginger-and-dill

The ginger and garlic and dill transform said vegetable into something downright snackable. It's even better at room temperature. My friend Heidi makes this for my friend Meg and I during our annual summer visit, and its a total highlight for me. Then I figured out I could make it for myself.

Now to Ina, very talented in the kitchen and a joy to watch but less likely to make you question whether you should bother getting out of bed because what's the point (see: Padma.)

But she has Jeffrey, who loves her chicken, so fear not for Ina. She's doing OK for herself.

Ina has this wonderful way of robbing broccoli of its sulphur, bitterness and ennui. I usually add some crushed dried red hot pepper too, at the end and I rarely have pine nuts around because my boyfriend eats everything in the nut family before I can use it. Ina employs the roasting-to-carmelization method I champion in Part One.

Ingredients
4 to 5 pounds broccoli
4 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
Good olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons lemon zest, grated
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
3 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted
1/3 cup Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
2 tablespoons fresh basil leaves (about 12 leaves), julienned

Cooking Directions
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
Cut the broccoli florets from the thick stalks, leaving an inch or two of stalk attached to the florets, discarding the rest of the stalks. Cut the larger pieces through the base of the head with a small knife, pulling the florets apart. You should have about 8 cups of florets. Place the broccoli florets on a sheet pan large enough to hold them in a single layer. Toss the garlic on the broccoli and drizzle with 5 tablespoons olive oil. Sprinkle with the salt and pepper. Roast for 20 to 25 minutes, until crisp-tender and the tips of some of the florets are browned.

Remove the broccoli from the oven and immediately toss with 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil, the lemon zest, lemon juice, pine nuts, Parmesan, and basil. Serve hot.
Courtesy of "Barefoot Contessa: Back to Basics"