I’ve never been fond of hiding the flavour of vegetables. Lightly steamed and dressed with a little lemon or butter, most vegetables don’t need anything more. I was reminded of this preference by a former roommate of mine recently, who tried to get me to ship her some chocolate chip cookies, as compensation for all the torture she allegedly endured when I used to steam a head of cauliflower for dinner and eat it, plain.
I’m not puritanical on this point, thank goodness, or I might have skipped this week’s French Friday altogether. I’m not fond of breading in general – Schnitzel is wasted on me, but one of the benefits of this cook-a-long is trying recipes outside one’s comfort zone. Since Kevin was eating with me, I substituted crushed (gluten-free) rice crackers for the bread crumbs, but followed the recipe otherwise.
I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this dish. The combination of butter, garlic, lemon zest and parsley stood up well against the crunch of the cracker crumbs and the lightly-steamed broccoli.
We served it with Dorie’s broth-braised potatoes (which haven’t come up yet in our French Friday rotation) and her pepper steak (which you’ll be hearing raves about at the end of this month). It made for a fantastic dinner.
You can find many other blogged descriptions of this week’s FFWD recipe here: Garlicky Crumb-Coated Broccoli
One Wet Foot 
I assume your rice crackers were gluten free, thus making this a gluten free dish. Great sub! Looks yummy!
Yes they were gluten-free. I’ll edit the post – thanks for pointing it out! It was really good. The rice crackers were ones we already had on hand and had back sesame seeds in them. Both the cracker crumbs and the seeds added a nice crunch to the broccoli.
Interesting take on this recipe, I like the idea of using crackers. I have crackers hanging around in my pantry way more than a loaf of bread. Beautiful photos too;-)
Thanks, Patty! We usually have crackers in our pantry, too. Rice crackers can go stale quickly, so this recipe will be a good way to use up leftovers before that happens.
I can’t condone your peculiar cauliflower-eating habits, but I do applaud your recent broccoli adventures. I am not a fan of breading, but this sounds quite different than the usual heavy recipes I’ve heard about, and looks delicious! I like the angle of the photo showing the (about to be steamed, I suppose) broccoli.
Thank you for inspiring me …. while there will be no breading in tonight’s meal, there will be broccoli and other veggies stir-fried with garlic, lemon and herbs!
Yes – you were my other cauliflower-hating roommate once upon a time. I liked using the crackers, because they retained a crispness that bread crumbs don’t and you’re right, the dish wasn’t heavy at all.
I like that photo, too. It’s of the broccoli just after it was steamed. I’m glad I inspired you to make a stirfry – sounds delicious!
I’m glad it was just as tasty with the rice cracker crumbs (great idea!) and that Kevin got to enjoy this with with you. The other Dorie recipes sound so good.
I suspect I wouldn’t like the texture of breadcrumbs in this quite as well as I did the rice crackers. It’s nice that the gluten-free version was really no extra trouble, too.
The potato and steak recipes are quite easy and very, very tasty. I can hardly wait to get some fingerling potatoes from the farmers’ market to try the broth-braised potatoes again. I will probably make the steak once more before it’s time to post. I found some elk steaks in the freezer and I think the cognac cream sauce will be perfect for them.
I love the first picture. I love rice crackers, and I’m imagining the wonderful flavor it must have. I might try that variation the next time I make this.
Thanks, Betsy! I recommend the rice cracker version – the crackers really retain their crunchiness.
I always enjoy your post. Now I’m excited about the pepper steak…hadn’t really thought about it until now.
Thanks very much, Krissy. Be very excited about the pepper steak. It’s wonderful!
Hello, broccoli… come out of that steamer, you flirt! What a wonderful meal you concocted out of AMFT. Can’t wait to see the potatoes and pepper steak make their appearance here.
Flirtatious broccoli! It really was a wonderful meal. The pepper steak is amazing and the broth-braised potatoes are going to become a favourite way to prepare the new potatoes that are starting to appear at the farmers’ market. I think I might have to nominate them for our June recipe round up.
Now, how can you tease us with the steak & potatoes and not provide a sneak peak. 😦 Great thought on using the crackers…
I know! I felt a little mean, not including pictures of the plate, but the star of those pictures is really the steak, so I’m saving them for the end of the month. I’m glad I thought to use crackers. I think I like it better than I would have liked breadcrumbs, gluten or no.
Gorgeous, gorgeous photos, Teresa! Lovely job with this one~
Thanks, Liz! I felt really lucky that they turned out so well, especially the first one.
Your images are amazing! And I really like your rice cracker crumbs as I used gluten free white rice crumbs as well ;-).
Thanks, Maya. I’m glad to hear I’m not the only one who used rice crackers. Can’t wait to check out your take on it.
As usual, great post! Wow! love your pictures. But maybe even more excited about the upcoming recipes… my mouth is watering! Glad you liked the broccoli though – can’t live on steak and potatoes all the time!! Also, I always appreciate your gluten-free ideas.
Thanks, Candy. It’s true – the upcoming recipes are amazing this month. The broccoli really stood up to the steak and potatoes – what I liked about this meal is that none of it’s components overwhelmed any of the others. They were all equally enjoyable. I’m glad I can share my g-f variations. It’s also a great record for me to refer back to when I’m looking for ideas.
I usually eat my broccoli just steamed and drizzled with shallot oil and soy sauce. 🙂 Your ‘French’ dinner sounds amazing!
Shallot oil and soy sauce sound amazing for broccoli!
I used nut crumbs instead of breadcrumbs. Yay for creativity 🙂
That’s so cool – looking forward to checking out your post.
Beautiful pictures! I enjoyed your post and know I need to go back and make this recipe after hearing how much everyone enjoyed it. It looks and sounds delightful. Glad you all enjoyed it!
Thanks, Ryan. You must try it; it’s really good.
Crackers … what a great idea! esp if you don’t have bread crumbs on hand.
I had considered making the steak to go with the broccoli – I’m sure they were wonderful together!
I am going to try the crackers, too – I bet they were really crunchy. Great idea! And now your post is making me really look forward to the steak 🙂
@Frolicking Night Owl – yes, we’re much more likely to have crackers on hand than bread. Since rice crackers can become stale quite quickly, I think this will also turn out to be a good way to use up those leftovers, too.
@Karen – they went really well together. We try not to eat too much meat, but that steak recipe is already calling to me again.
@luciacara – I really liked the crunchiness of the crackers in this recipe. Yes, the steak is amazing – you’ll love it!
Looks great! I love veggies but do appreciate a bit of adornment and this was perfect!
This one surprised me too – it was very fine broccoli.
Thanks Candy and Cakelaw, I agree that this was a wonderful recipe. I noticed amongst everyone’s posts that almost no one disliked this one, at least not intensely, while most of us loved it.
That first picture of Broccoli is pure genius. I love it. Is it upside down? Is the glass lid of your pot on the right hand side? Either way I love it.
Thanks, Allison! It’s actually not upside down – it’s a picture of my steamer, with the lid ajar. I shot from the side and above, so the angle is quite skewed. I was really pleased with how it turned out.