This Roasted Broccoli Recipe Indulges All My Food Obsessions
This story is part of the 2018 Feel Good Food Plan, our two-week mind-body-belly plan for starting the year off right.
I was initially attracted to this recipe because it calls for so many things I love—maybe a little too much. I eat miso by the spoonful after long runs when my body is screaming for salt; I gained 10 pounds in college when I began a habit of stress-eating a particular brand of hempseed-packed granola; and my doctor literally told me to “cut back” on cruciferous vegetables like broccoli and cauliflower a few years ago (long story). Signing on to cook this roasted broccoli recipe was basically just an excuse to combine them all in moderation.
I eat a lot of tofu, but I rarely cook with it because I’m never really sure how to—it seems so delicate! But this recipe made tofu approachable; I just had to tear it up, and you can’t really mess up when tearing things up with your bare hands. Roasting tofu is actually a lot easier than I’d thought it’d be: per this recipe, you just place it on a baking sheet with oil and spices, and then put it in a hot oven. Why did I think it was so complicated before?
Despite my apprehension towards cooking tofu, I roast brussels sprouts almost daily, though this recipe forced me to approach one of my favorite side dish a little differently. Rather than roasting an entire Brussel sprout, I put only the outer leaves on the baking sheet, and saved the inner core to shred and serve raw. Serving the same vegetable two ways in one dish made me appreciate its complexity. Two combinations of flavor and texture—one charred and crispy like a chip, the other a little rough and bitter—who knew brussels sprouts had it in them?! And roasting them alongside broccoli gave me a double hit of my beloved brassicas.
Aside from tearing up the tofu, the easiest part of this recipe was making the dressing. Instead of a standing blender, I used an immersion blender to purée everything, which worked fine for me as I don’t mind a coarse hemp seed here or there, but if you want a silky, smooth dressing, go with a stronger blender. I’m not just saying this, but the dressing was SO GOOD. It was equal parts nutty, umami-y, and citrusy. Luckily, I had enough left over to drizzle it on, uh, literally anything I ate for the next two days.
Likely due to the hemp seeds and tofu, this salad was way more filling than I expected, but the fullness I felt after was the kind that comes from tons of vegetables and fiber, not a pint of ice cream. But, then again, everything in moderation—even brussels sprouts and broccoli.
Get the recipe:
Roasted Broccoli and Tofu with Creamy Miso Dressing
