The Most Amazing Thing Ever

Another long weekend of the summer gone by! I hope everyone got up to fun things this weekend. I did not go away or anything, this is the summer of work and moving forward for me and I am fine with that! I did get a little reading/sun time in with a loaner Kobo that a friend gave me to use until I get mine back. I also got to attend a wedding of an amazing couple Sean and Megan!! Their wedding was so beautiful and so unique! The bride was wearing an amazing to die for one shouldered dress. They had the ceremony at the a museum and the reception at a wicked restaurant called the Alibi Room in Gastown. It had amazing food and a beer selection that made me wish I liked beer! Of course being the ditz that I am I didn't take any pictures.

Other than that the highlight of my weekend was last night. I decided to make a really yummy healthy dinner for Leigh and I and somehow convinced him to watch the Bachelorette finale with me.  This means that I got to watch with a running commentary from Leigh: "JP and Ashley are the WORST kissers ever! They're eating each others faces, I can't even watch!" It was a little heartbreaking to watch her break up with Ben, even though I totally called it and I was rooting for JP. Did you see that little book he gave her with the picture of them on the beach and the love letter? SOLD!

PS: That dress is 16 grand, and she went frolicking in the water with it. Not cool, Ash.

While we were watching the "so bad it's good" Bachelorette, I decided we needed a seriously veggie based dinner. So I made our favourite salad and decided to try this broccoli recipe I found on pinterest. Yes, broccoli. Now I personally LOVE steamed broccoli. But this...this is just....so freaking good!!!
 The recipe credit goes to Barefoot Contessa, but I modified it a bit ie took out things I don't like lol.

Ingredients:
4-5 pounds of broccoli (or two large bunches) chopped into florets (needs to be TOTALLY DRY!)
5 tbsp of olive oil
1.5 tsp kosher salt
1.5 tsp fresh ground pepper
4 garlic gloves peeled and chopped
1/3 cup fresh grated Parmesan
1 lemon (to juice and zest)

Instructions:
Either wash the broccoli and let it dry thoroughly or just don't wash it. At 425 degrees (which you need to preheat the oven to) the bacteria is probably going to be killed anyways. Your choice!
Toss the broccoli with the olive oil, salt and pepper and spread it out on a baking sheet. Put it in the oven for about 20-25 minutes. Check and see if the tips of the florets are starting to go brown. It should be "crispy tender" according to the Barefoot Contessa. When it's ready, take it out of the oven and zest a lemon over the broccoli, then squeeze the juice out of the lemon over the broccoli. Then you can sprinkle the best part, aka the cheese on top of the broccoli. The recipe I had didn't call for this but I stuck it back in the oven for a few minutes to melt the cheese.

I had heard such amazing things about this recipe I was nervous I would be let down. It is freaking amazing. You just seriously have to try it, even if you don't like broccoli. I could eat this every day, I'm not joking. I put the plate of broccoli in front of Leigh and he's like "What's so special about this broccoli, anyway?" I'm like "Just eat it!" and as soon as he took a bite his eyes went wide and he moved over on the couch so I wouldn't dig into his because I'd already finished mine! lol
I will definitely be making this again, it's so easy and simple. Let me know if you try it! :)

xoxo,
T