Kitchen Fun, Recipes
Published on February 13, 2016
Comments 31

Broccoli potato skillet–A one-dish meal

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Broccoli potato skillet with kale, sesame seeds and fresh herbs

On a crisp, cold evening, this savory skillet of potatoes, broccoli and leafy greens, lightly spiced with fresh herbs, a hint of lemon and that delightfully fragrant East Indian spice combo, garam masala, both comforts and delights the senses.

It’s true that we love it in the fall and winter, but even on a warm summer’s eve, we enjoy this simple, fresh, and taste-bud-popping, one-dish meal. We like to top it with a dollop or two of my all-purpose Basic Creamy Cheese Dip, but plain yogurt, especially homemade Greek-style yogurt, tastes good too. As we move closer and closer to a vegan lifestyle, I’m looking forward to trying this vegan sour cream from Celeste at The Whole Serving.

Is your family one that eats vegetables only when they’re wrapped and slathered in bacon?  Shhh. (Looks furtively left and right.) I’ll let you in on a secret. They’ll love veggie skillet meals like this if you use uber-fresh vegetables and herbs, alive with color and texture, and cook them just long enough to bring them to tenderness, not so long they lose their color and turn mushy.

Here’s how to do this one, step-by-step, in pictures. Not that seasoned cooks will need the step-by-step, but that this is such a pretty dish to make. The vibrant colors and scents at each stage of cooking, the dance of cutting and chopping, adding and stirring, grabbing a quick taste along the way, well, I hope you can get a little of that in the photos.

1 medium onion, three small, new red potatoes, a bunch of broccoli and a bulb of garlic

1 medium onion, three small, new red potatoes, a bunch of broccoli and a bulb of garlic

Start with a medium onion, three to four cloves of garlic, three small freshly scrubbed potatoes, and about a pound of broccoli. You’ll need a bunch of freshly washed kale, too, a lime and some fresh herbs, such as parsley or the spicy yellow flower I got from the farmer’s market the other day. Can’t for the life of me remember what the farmer called it, so I’ll have to go back this week and ask her.

To a large skillet over medium flame, add one tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, heat almost to sizzling, careful not to let it smoke, and drop in half the chopped onion. Sweat the onion till nearly translucent, then add the garlic and sauté both over medium low flame until about half the onion is caramelized.

Add minced garlic to slightly sautéed onions
Sauté until all of garlic and about half of onions are caramelized

Add one tablespoon oil to pan, stir and add the potatoes.

Add dice potatoes to the alliums and saute over medium heat, turning frequently

Add diced potatoes to the alliums and sauté over medium heat, turning frequently

After 2-3 minutes, cover skillet and cook over low heat while you prepare the broccoli, separating the florets and chopping the stems. Add the chopped stems to the potatoes immediately and cook, stirring occasionally while you trim and chop the kale.

BroccoliStemsandPotatoes_3945sC

Mmmmm. The potatoes and broccoli are almost fork tender. Don’t you just want to reach in and get a taste?

The potatoes are beginning to caramelize around the edges, and the broccoli stems are nearly tender

Beginning to caramelize around the edges, the potatoes and broccoli stems are nearly tender

Add the chopped kale, salt, fresh squeezed lime juice and a few twists of freshly ground pepper. Stir and cover for 2-3 minutes, to give the kale time to loosen and wilt into the vegetables.

Chopped kale, onions and a squeeze of fresh lime juice, ready to stir into the vegetables in the skillet

Chopped kale, salt, onions and a squeeze of fresh lime juice, ready to stir into the vegetables in the skillet

While the kale cooks down a bit, call the family to set the table. Dinner’s ready in about seven minutes. Stir in the broccoli florets and garam masala and cook over medium low heat while you snip a little fresh parsley or fragrant herb of your choosing and toast the sesame seeds in a dry skillet.

If you’ve never toasted your own before, you may be surprised to learn how quick and easy it is to toast sesame seeds. Sprinkle the fresh herbs and about half the sesame seeds over the skillet and serve immediately.

Broccoli, kale potato skillet with rapini and toasted sesame seeds

Broccoli, kale potato skillet with that as yet unnamed spicy yellow-flowered herb and toasted sesame seeds

Whether I’m serving from my enameled cookware or a plain cast iron skillet, I take the pan directly to the table. This dish makes a mighty pretty centerpiece, don’t you think? Garnish each plate with a few of fresh sprigs of herbs and bring the rest of the sesame seeds along, so folks can add more after dishing up their plates.

Serve at the table, right from the skillet

Serve at the table, right from the skillet

A YayYay's Kitchen Recipe

Broccoli potato skillet recipe

Winter or summer, this bright, savory, comfort-food dish is sure to please. The little ones get a kick out of spearing the vegetables on their forks and dipping them in their own personal pots of creamy dip or yogurt (not shown–yet). Optionally, add white cannellini beans in place of or in addition to the potatoes.

Time and such

  • Servings: 4-6, depending how hungry everyone is
  • Prep time: 30 minutes, most of it while you’re sauteing the vegetables one after the other
  • Cook time: 10 extra minutes
  • Total time: 40 minutes of sheer cooking-dance pleasure
  • Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients:

  • 2 T Extra virgin olive oil, divided
  • 3/4 C Chopped yellow or red onion (one medium onion)
  • 3-4 Garlic cloves, peeled and minced
  • 3 Small new potatoes or several fingerlings, about 3/4 lb, cubed in bite size pieces
  • 2 C Coarsely chopped broccoli, about 1 lb., keeping chopped stems separate from florets
  • 2 C Kale leaves or collard greens, cut in 1-inch ribbons (Save the stems for soup or soup stock)
  • 1 C White cannellini beans, cooked (Optional)
  • Juice of 1 small lime or 1/2 medium lemon
  • 3/4 t Sea salt or Himalayan pink salt
  • Fresh ground pepper to taste
  • 1/4 C Fresh parsley or other flavorful herb, snipped fine
  • 3/4 t Garam masala
  • 2 T Toasted sesame seeds
  • 1/4-1/2 C Greek-style yogurt or Basic Creamy Cheese Dip for garnish (Optional)

Directions

  1. In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon oil to just-under sizzling when you toss in a piece of chopped onion. Do not overheat.
  2. Add half the onion and sweat till nearly translucent.
  3. Add the garlic and cook, stirring once or twice, until the onions and garlic begin to caramelize nicely.
  4. Add 1 tablespoon oil, stir to mix and add potatoes. Cook 10 minutes, turning every few minutes until the spuds begin to caramelize around the edges
  5. Stir in broccoli stems, cover and cook 3-4 minutes, till stems are crunchy tender.
  6. Stir in kale, cannellini beans, if using, salt, black pepper, lime juice and remaining onions, cooking 5 minutes more, to wilt the kale and soften the onions.
  7. Add the broccoli florets and garam masala, mix thoroughly, and cook 5 minutes while you snip the herbs and toast the sesame seeds.
  8. Sprinkle the seeds and herbs over the top of the skillet, remove from heat and serve immediately.

Serve rustic style, directly from the skillet. Optionally, garnish with vegan or dairy yogurt or my Basic Creamy Cheese Sauce or the vegan sour cream, linked to earlier on this page.

Of course you can change this umpteen ways, just by altering the vegetables or herbs a little. The important thing to remember is always to use the freshest, brightest vegetables in your bin. They’re the ones with the most flavor.

What do you think would be good in this dish?

♥ ♥ ♥

Dear Readers: If you’ve followed me from the now-defunct Squidoo to HubPages and now to YayYay’s Kitchen, you may remember a version of this recipe, which I first published on Squidoo in January 2014. In August 2014, HubPages, where I am known as ecogranny, bought Squidoo. I opted to have my Squidoo pages, including this recipe, transferred to the new site. Now, in February 2016, I’ve brought it home to YayYay’s Kitchen, revised to reflect the way we cook and enjoy it today.

31 Comments

  1. stevekaye says

    Yum! I just cooked a version of this meal based on what I had on hand. And it was delicious. Thank you for publishing this idea. I’m really glad to know about this recipe.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  3. Pingback: Real Food Fridays #128 – Marvelous Food That Leaves A Legacy

  4. Marla says

    HI Kathryn,
    Just a note to let you know that I have chosen your posts as one of my features for this weeks Real Food Fridays blog hop that goes live every Thursday @ 7pm EST. Thank you for being part of Real Food Fridays mission to help make this world a little bit healthier every week.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  7. Pingback: Friday 5: Real Food Recipes #4 | YayYay's Kitchen

  11. Sharon L. Grace says

    Oh my, this looks and sounds wonderful! I love any kind of potato skillet, but this looks especially yummy, and easy, which is always a plus. I might just have some for breakfast this morning!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

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