Why Your Homemade Broccoli Never Tastes As Good As A Restaurant's

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It's important to incorporate vegetables into your daily diet, but let's face it: they never taste quite as good at home as they do at a restaurant. Broccoli, for example, always seems to have just the right flavor and texture when you order it as a side dish while dining out. Surprisingly, it's not hard to recreate that restaurant flavor at home. Once you choose the best broccoli from the grocery store, focus on the right cooking methods.

Restaurant broccoli is often cooked with different, more meticulous methods than what you'd do in your own kitchen. At home, it's easy to just boil or steam it, but you're often left with bland, colorless florets. Restaurants usually blanch the broccoli instead, or quickly boil it and dunk it in ice water. Taking the extra ice water step keeps broccoli's color intact and stops it from cooking, which prevents it from getting mushy.

Restaurants also use high-heat cooking methods to build flavor, whether it's grilled broccoli that has a slightly charred profile, or the best roasted broccoli that gets perfectly crispy. At home, don't steam the broccoli or roast it on low heat; roast it at 425 degrees Fahrenheit, where it will crisp nicely outside without drying out inside. To grill broccoli, place it right on the grill's surface to expose it to that high heat; if you don't have narrow enough grill grates, you can get an affordable grill basket on Amazon, such as one from the Penobon brand.

The cooking methods are important, but how you season the broccoli matters just as much. Toss the broccoli in olive oil and lemon juice before cooking it, which gives the veggie a balance of fat and acidity. Plus, it helps other seasonings stick. Salt is essential for bringing out just about any dish's flavor, and broccoli is no exception. You can keep it simple by just adding some kosher salt, or incorporate other seasonings like crushed red pepper or garlic powder for more taste. Season the broccoli before cooking it, and for even richer flavor, finish the broccoli by tossing it in a little garlic butter once it's done cooking.

If you don't want to take away too much of broccoli's nutritional value, you can still pair it with plenty of toppings or other ingredients that will build bold flavor. Try tossing it in an easy sauce made from soy sauce, honey, and ground ginger, then topping it with crushed red pepper for a spicy Asian-inspired flair. Or, shave some Parmesan over top, along with some lemon pepper seasoning, for a balance of richness and a little zing.