smashed broccoli

I originally caught the recipe for smashed broccoli (supposedly you can "smash" potatos as well, but I haven't looked for a recipe for that yet) by accident when I happened across an episode of Huey's Cooking Adventures (he annoys the hell out of me, but occasionally makes something that looks somewhat interesting), and it sounded really, really nice. And also simple.

But I didn't write down the recipe or anything, so when I came to make it I had to do a Google search on "smashed broccoli" which lead me to a recipe that sounded about right, that I then corrupted a little to suit both my own tastes and the contents of my pantry...

I'm fully aware that it doesn't LOOK terribly interesting.... I'm not going to come up with a description for it's appearance, I'm sure you can all do that on your own... but trust me, it tastes about a million times better than it looks. I would suggest that you serve it with some form of chicken, in my case a nice piece of grilled chicken straight off the George Foreman grill (which I usually do every Monday... very predictable). And this recipe should serve two people (or one greedy-guts like me).

Smashed Broccoli

1 head of broccoli, including stems (coarsely chopped)
1 cup chicken or vegetable stock
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 garlic cloves (coarsely chopped)
pinch of chili flakes (to taste)
2 tablespoons plain yogurt
salt and black pepper

Heat the olive oil in a medium pot then add the chili flakes and garlic (the dry garlic flakes work just as well as fresh garlic).

Throw in the broccoli and toss to coat in the oil. Pour in the chicken stock, cover, and let the broccoli steam for 10-15 minutes until almost all the liquid has gone.

When it is quite soft, mash about half of the broccoli with a fork or potato masher until smooth, leaving the other half mostly untouched. The broccoli should be partly smooth and partly chunky.

Stir in the yogurt and season with salt and pepper. Serve with chicken.

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