Broccoli: It's what's for dinner.

In our house, one of us gets to do the fun stuff (the weekend trips to Disneyland, the awarding of treats upon arrival from frequent business trips, the allowance of gum before dinner). This parent is welcomed home with squeals and little girls chanting his name and fighting for kisses.  This parent is affectionally called "Circus Dad".

One of us oversees homework, ensures school uniform compliance, breaks up fights over hairbows and Little Pet Shop toys, and makes the children eat their vegetables and go to bed on time.  I like to call myself "Broccoli Mom".

We go by other names in the real world...but for my current purposes, this is who we are.

Our children are generally referred to as "Miss Drama" and "Trouble".  They are 6.8 and 3.5 years old, respectively.

The other fun twist is that we are professional Ex-Pats, having spent 5 years in Switzerland and the past year in Hong Kong.

So, sometimes...I serve Bok Choy instead of Broccoli.  As long as they are getting their greens.

For the most part, Drama and Trouble eat their vegetables without much prodding.  In fact, Drama declared herself a Vegetarian last week...until she learned that chicken nuggets were made from chicken, the animal.  And then she decided she needed to re-think that position.  My plan for this blog is to serve up a spattering of my wildly humorous observations, an insight or two into our family dynamic, and the occasional recipe.  Tonight, I served them a yummy treat that my friend Annette shared with me a few years ago in Swizerland: One Pan Broccoli Pasta.   I mean how can you start a blog with Broccoli in the title and not offer up some?

What's better than broccoli your kids will eat?  Having only one pan to wash up afterwards.  You can thank me later.

One Pan Broccoli Pasta
(courtesy of Annette)

• One head broccoli, about 1 pound: peel outside tough skin and break into large, bite sized florets and stems
• ½ cup olive oil
• 8 cloves garlic, sliced coarsely
• lots of black pepper-about 30+ grinds or ¼+ tsp cracked (I do this afterwards as the girls don't like pepper)
• ¼ tsp. (or more to taste) crushed red chili peppers (I use a minimal amount...you can always add more afterward)
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 cups Hot water (divided into 2 cups)
• 8 oz spahettini broken in half  (1/2 package)

1. Heat the oil, salt and peppers in a nice sized fry pan over medium heat. Saute until garlic is soft, not brown –a few minutes.
2. Add broccoli and sauté briefly just enough to coat with oil and garlic. Push to one side, or place broccoli on plate for next step.
3. Add pasta and stir well to coat with oil and garlic. 
4. Place broccoli on top of pasta and add 1 cup water.
5. Reduce heat to medium low. Cover, and simmer softly till water is mostly absorbed. It is important that you stir the pasta at the beginning so it doesn’t stick together. Check it often as it tends to stick together.  (maybe 4 minutes)
6. When water is absorbed, add 1 more cup hot water, cover and simmer again over medium low heat until spaghetti is done and water is absorbed. Aprox. 6 minutes. Check to see if pasta is done…al dente.
7. Plate & serve.  Finish with pepper and crushed red pepper to taste.