Broccoli oh Broccoli

I just want to make a note that this year's broccoli crop continues to produce significant usable florets. They've produced vegetables consistently from the beginning of June through the end of September, giving me at least 4 full months of production. What a great crop!

Simple Broccoli Bacon Quiche

What does one do with 9 backyard broccoli plants putting out some serious florets? How about a quiche!?! You'll need a bunch of broccoli, a half dozen eggs or so, 1-2 cups of shredded cheese, milk, butter, chopped onions and garlic, salt and pepper, a pie crust, and I highly recommend bacon!

Have the pie crust ready in a pie pan. Chop up the bacon (maybe remove some of the fat in the process) and start cooking it in a pan over low-medium heat. After a moment, add a tablespoon or 2 of butter to the pan, and then the chopped broccoli, onions, and garlic. Cook slowly until the veggies get soft. Scoop/pour into the pie pan and sprinkle some cheese on top. 

Mix 4-6 eggs and about a half to whole cup of milk. Add your salt and pepper, the rest of the shredded cheese, and some more butter (melted) to the egg mixture. Pour this over the veggies in the pie crust and bake at about 350 until the middle sets, about 25-30 minutes.

So. Much. BROCCOLI.

That ain't no cereal bowl!

Insane broccoli production! It just keeps growing! And growing! AND GROWING. I started with 12 little plants, and ended up pulling out a couple that struggled. So, with 9 or 10 broccoli plants I have had a constant harvest of fresh broccoli, daily, for over two months. I have a huge bowl full of fresh broccoli in the kitchen. I have a freezer packed full of plastic bags of chopped frozen broccoli. And I have given away at least 3 or 4 grocery-store-sized servings of broccoli to friends. I even game some to an enemy! Well, frienemy I guess. 

I used a variety called pacman broccoli from Bonnie Plants that I got at Home Depot. It has far surpassed my expectations and grown more successfully and productively than anything I've ever grown (and I've grown a plant or two in my life).

First it grows one giant head of broccoli. You cut it, and two more heads grow from the original stem. Cut those, and then you get four next time! Then eight! Ahhhhh more broccoli! 

WHAT TO MAKE?!?

Last night Cait made some chilli pepper oil ginger chicken and black bean dish, and we added broccoli florets at the end. It fit in perfectly. Earlier in the summer I grilled a lot of the broccoli. Recently I've frozen some of it and given a lot away. I want to make something like Adrienne made with the harvest I gave JJ. She made a creamy chicken and bowtie pasta with broccoli florets, which looked fabulous on Facebook. Someone suggested roasting at some point, which I need to try. Any other ideas?

Aje's chicken alfredo!

Cait's chili pepper chicken!