The folks at Tenderstem got in touch to see if I’d like a hamper of their lovely green vegetables, and asked if perhaps I could come up with a recipe for them. This was part of their #TenderDateNight campaign, which suggests that Tenderstem broccoli is a great vegetable to cook up on a Date Night at home. Seems reasonable. I don’t know about you, but I feel that nothing says I love you better than a well cooked brassica. Well, it was a bit of a no brainer; I love the stuff and my favourite thing ever is to dream up ways of using vegetables that I love (I’m a bit odd like that, I know).
By the way, Tenderstem broccoli is now to be known as simply Tenderstem; I’m totally OK with getting on first name terms with this delicious and versatile vegetable – and you really should get more friendly with it too, if you’re not already. If you’re not, then maybe this recipe could help steer you in that direction?
There are so many great ways to eat Tenderstem, it is supremely versatile. The #TenderDateNight campaign cleverly extends the date theme to ‘match’ it with several ingredient partners, so as to highlight the fact that you can eat it with so many things – and in so many ways – successfully. If roasting it in one pan, tucked under some chicken thighs along with chorizo and some chunks of red onion doesn’t tickle your fancy, then why not use it in a pasta dish like this one with softened garlic and anchovies; or simply steam and top with a poached egg and a generous heap of Parmesan; or roasted with new potatoes and a gribiche sauce is great too? I think the stalk on Tenderstem is delicious (but then, I love normal broccoli stalks anyway), and its leggy nature lends itself to dipping in soft boiled eggs too for a low calorie and very virtuous breakfast.
Oh, but how I love a traybake! These quick, one pot dishes really need to be part of your repertoire if they’re not already. This traybake is really the bees’ knees. Seriously. It took just minutes to sling together, then about 40 minutes to roast, and the sauce that the ingredients collectively produce is just delicious – really it calls for some crusty bread to mop it all up. If you wanted to add a carby element, you could add some small new potatoes to the pan to roast, as they’ll take the same time.
Serves: 3/4 (or 2 adults and 2 children)
Prep time: 3 minutes
Cook time: 40 minutes (please be careful to check your chicken thighs are cooked through)
Total time: 43 minutes
Ingredients:
6 chicken thighs (free-range if possible)
200g chorizo, cut into half moons
200g Tenderstem broccoli
1 small lemon, cut into quarters
1 red onion, cut into eight pieces
1 tablespoon of olive oil
Salt and pepper
Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 190C.
- Simply place the cut up chorizo, lemon, red onion, Tenderstem, and oil in a roasting pan. Season well and toss.
- Season and lightly oil the chicken thighs. Place them on top of the above, skin side up.
- Roast for 40 minutes, basting the lot with the flavoursome red oil about twice during cooking.
- Serve with crusty bread to mop all the juices up.
This is a sponsored post for Tenderstem. All opinions are true – I love this product. I was paid to write it, as such the link is no follow, as per Google guidelines.
