Quick and Easy Broccoli

Sometimes, especially if I stop by the gym, or go for a run before cooking dinner, I find myself home late. Starving hungry. And really I would be happy with a bowl of ice cream for dinner and then off to bed. Or cake. But I have a husband now. So, being that it's his job to give me money when I ask for it, it's my job to have a meal in the evening for him. (It's not exactly that simple, but you get the idea.)

So today, hungry, I decided to go with the standard of baked chicken and some noodles. I was going to make this delicious looking chicken dish over at more than burnt toast, but I didn't have any cheese and I hadn't stopped at the grocery store on the way home. For a vegetable, I turned to my trusty Cooking Light (March 2007 issue) and found Broccoli with Red Pepper Flakes and Toasted Garlic. The Heck with George H. Bush, broccoli is darn tasty. (Don't get me started on GW.)

This is one speedy recipe to prepare too. Let me explain my timeline this way. I got home and started the baked chicken thighs and put on the water for the noodles. Then I did the dishes from breakfast; It's the most important meal of the day you know. In the time it took the pasta to cook, I got the broccoli florets cut from the stalks and thinly sliced the garlic. Maybe it's just me, but I'm always jealous of the guy in Goodfellas who's slicing the garlic with a razor in prison and he gets it wafer thin. My garlic just seems coarsley sliced in comparison. But I digress, I drained the pasta and pulled the chicken out of the oven. While I was letting the chicken rest, I whipped together the broccoli. Simple. Easy. So very very delicious.

Broccoli with Red Pepper Flakes and Toasted Garlic

from Cooking Light

2 tsp olive oil

6 cups broccoli florets (about 1 very big head)

1/4 tsp kosher salt

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

Heat olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Add broccoli, salt, red pepper, and sliced garlic. Saute 2 minutes. Add 1/4 cup water. Cover, reduce heat to low, and cook for 2 minutes or until broccoli is crisp-tender.