chili-garlic roasted broccoli

I am so over Halloween. In fact, I've been over it since I was thirteen, which is the last time I went trick or treating and willingly dressed up. What I really hate is the 'forced fun' that ensues with some adults. Dressing up like a skanky cat, carving a slimy pumpkin and eating Snickers till I barf holds little appeal to me. 

I even worked at a company where the owner treated Halloween like a national holiday. It was a nightmare where I had to dress up like a fortune telling gypsy and Madonna to fit into the department theme. Forced fun. No fun was not an option.

The Bebe is still too young to appreciate dressing up or all the candy you can eat, but she may be the one to rejuvenate Halloween in our household. 

My in-laws were also over for the weekend and they really did us a huge favor by taking care of the Bebe all weekend and allowing us time to run errands and enjoy dinner at Fellini's Cafe. I usually enjoy Fellini's, but was a little annoyed at our waitress being overly attentive in an attempt to get us out of the restaurant. (Which was empty, by the way.) I'm guessing she had a date to dress like a slutty feline and inhale Smarties till she puked. 

At some point during the weekend, a huge bag of broccoli appeared in our fridge. So huge it wouldn't fit in the vegetable drawer. Apparently my father-in-law stopped at Produce Junction and bought a forest of broccoli. They left me two medium-sized heads. Last night I went on Food Network's web site and put in a search for "broccoli." Good old Rachel Ray has a recipe for Chili Garlic Roasted Broccoli. Say what you want about how annoying Rachel Ray is, but the woman can cook in a quick and efficient manner. A lot of my recipes are Rachel Ray inspired.

Chili-Garlic Roasted Broccoli

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

6 garlic cloves (I used crushed garlic)

1 tablespoon chili powder

1 tablespoon Montreal Steak Seasoning

1 large head of broccoli

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Cut broccoli into thin florets. Mix olive oil, garlic, chili powder and steak seasoning in large bowl. Coat broccoli with seasoning and lay on non-stick cookie sheet. Cook for 20 minutes.

The broccoli comes out sort of crispy burnt on the ends. It really hits the spot if you like salty/spicy and you can hardly taste the broccoli. Our chili powder is hardcore, and extremely spicy. I didn't think it would be a big deal, but the Mister couldn't handle it. Wus. 

Next time I'll probably cut the amount of chili powder to 1/2-tablespoon.

As pictured on Food Network's web site