Roasted Broccoli Grilled Cheese

Hello hello hello everybody! I'm back! Well, I'm not back back, since Viola's not up and running, I don't have my measuring spoons, and my light tent is still packed somewhere, but I'm back. And this is the first thing that I cooked in my new house so I'm sharing it with you!

And I also want to apologize for the pictures. I only had one sliver of countertop to take them on, and the window was a lot higher than I would have liked, so some of the lighting got a bit wonky. Oops. This is why I have a light tent. :D

So, I'm not usually a huge vegetable eater, but broccoli is one I usually like, and I definitely like roasted broccoli. I've had this recipe from 2 Peas and Their Pod pinned forever, so when I was looking for a recipe with easy prep (and basic ingredients, since I still have to finish stocking the pantry) so I could eat something other than pizza, I remembered this.

And the prep really is super simple. Just chop a head of broccoli into small florets, toss with olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic, and stick it in the oven for 10 minutes. Butter two slices of bread, add cheese and broccoli, and grill in a hot pan. Voila: healthy, wholesome, tasty, and not pizza.

I put a yellow cheddar slice on the bread, added the broccoli, and then sprinkled it with shredded white cheddar, then topped it with another slice of yellow cheddar. This not only adds extra cheese, but keeps the broccoli from falling out of the sandwich.

If I was fully back up and running, I would have buttered the outside of the bread as per usual, but buttered the inside with roasted garlic, because garlic and broccoli are best friends and that would have been amazeballs. But I'm not at that point yet, so I had to make do with some garlic on the broccoli itself. Dipping it in tomato basil soup helped, too.

I wish I could tell you I had a recipe for the soup, but I don't. It's Campbell's. And it was tasty, so don't hate.

Roasted Broccoli Grilled Cheese
Yield 3-4 sandwiches

Ingredients
Florets from 1 medium head of broccoli, chopped small
2 tbsp. olive oil
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. freshly cracked black pepper
1/4 tsp. garlic powder (optional)
6-8 slices of bread
Butter, softened
Cheddar cheese (I used a combination of yellow slices and shredded white)

Directions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. On a sheet pan, mix the broccoli, olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic powder, if using. Roast for 8-10 minutes, until the broccoli is evenly roasted, but not burnt. Allow to cool.

Heat a skillet on medium-low heat. Generously butter the bread on one side only. On the unbuttered side, layer cheese, broccoli, cheese, and another slice of bread (buttered side up). Grill in the heated skillet, flipping once, until both sides are golden brown. Serve hot.

Recipe adapted slightly from 2 Peas and Their Pod