Grilled Broccoli With Soy Sauce, Maple Syrup and Balsamic Vinegar

Grilled Broccoli With Soy Sauce, Maple Syrup and Balsamic Vinegar
David Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Prop Stylist: Paige Hicks.
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This is a no-recipe recipe, a recipe without an ingredients list or steps. It invites you to improvise in the kitchen.

This is good one to have in your back pocket when you’re cooking burgers and dogs on the grill; it’s a no-recipe version of a dish that I first learned of from the Brooklyn restaurateur Joe Carroll. Toss broccoli florets in equal parts soy sauce and balsamic vinegar, a generous dash of maple syrup and a splash of neutral oil, then grill (or broil) until they’re soft and crunchy. Serve them under a scattering of red-pepper flakes and sesame seeds, or use furikake, a Japanese seasoning blend that contains, in addition to sesame, chopped seaweed, sugar, salt and, occasionally, monosodium glutamate. Never mind hot dogs or anything else, actually. I could go for that broccoli on white rice and call it dinner, full stop.

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It would be nice to also give an actual recipe for those who might need it. For some folks, even a 4 ingredient recipe might be daunting. Something like: -2 tbsp soy sauce + 2 tbsp balsamic + 1 tbsp maple syrup + 1 tsp oil-- or something like that, for those who might need a little more rails around them. It would make a good cheat sheet for those of us trying to cook off the rails a little, but who are worried we might be far off the map.

Is it wrong to start eating the smaller florets right out of the pan while waiting for the larger ones to cook? Do I have to share?

I love these no-recipe recipes but it would be SUPER helpful if you formatted the text (bold the amounts and ingredients). Very hard to skim while planning/cooking.

Fantastic recipe! Add some garlic chili sauce, and served over rice. We were fighting over the last bits. I will make again tomorrow night, this time adding sliced red peppers and cubes of medium firm tofu to make a full meal, and will serve with a wedge of lemon. I made enough sauce to have roughly 1/4 inch of sauce on bottom of pan, in which I tossed the broccoli a few times during roasting. There was a bit left that we scooped over the rice.

Try roasting broccoli at 450 degrees for 8- 10 minutes with a splash of olive oil, and garlic and onion powder. Perfect. (2) 2 T balsamic, 2T soy sauce, 2 T maple syrup (3) Added a bit of fresh ginger paste to the balsamic-soy dressing. Made a generous amount and had extra to pour over my rice. Topped with garlic salt as well. Yum!

This reminds me (vaguely) of David Chang's fish sauce vinaigrette, which is the best thing to happen to vegetables ever. My slight variation on that is: 2 T fish sauce, 1 T water, 1–2 tsp rice wine vinegar or lime juice, 1 or 2 grated garlic cloves, 1 T maple syrup or sugar. Toss with burning hot roasted veggies or a pan full of charred, sautéed brussels sprouts, cauliflower, or broccoli immediately after turning off the heat. So addictive.

Try balsamic GLAZE, vs vinegar and skip the maple syrup. Perfect!

Consider roasting the broccoli. Preheat the oven to 400 F/204 C. Put the broccoli in a large pan so it is single layered (spread out), and roast for about 30 minutes (check them at the 20 minute mark they may be done).

Best broccoli ever! And so easy. Tossed it like a salad, using just enough sauce to get it moist but not soggy. Baked on cookie sheet at 450for about 20 minutes. Delicious!

2 T balsamic, 2T soy sauce, 2 T maple syrup

450 for 20 minutes was too long for our taste. We suggest you check it sooner.

Hey good about the healthy grains. I almost never use them, prefer basmati or jasmine rice once a week.

We used 2 T soy sauce, 2 T balsamic vinegar, 1 T olive oil, and 1 tsp maple syrup. Grilled until charred and tender. Sprinkled with salt and some freshly grated parmesan. Delicious.

try balsamic glaze instead of vinegar and skip the maple syrup

Look for Bal-Soy sauce. Made in Italy. Combo of soy sauce and reduced balsamic. Love this to cook with and to splash on. Great on broccoli.

Terrific side dish. We tossed the broccoli with 2 T of soy sauce, maple syrup, and balsamic vinegar and drizzled it with neutral oil. We then roasted it at 450 degrees because it was pouring outside so the grill wasn’t an option. My family loved it and ate every bit of it. Definitely a keeper!

2tb soy sauce 2tb balsamic 2tb maple syrup 2tb Olive oil

Good without maple syrup. Do not overcook.

This is terrible! Not good at all. Don’t waste the ingredients on it. Yuck-o! Did I mention it’s bad? The char with the broccoli with the combination of the sauce. No bueno.

Good. After cooking I tossed with Trader Joe’s chili onion crunch.

Adding cloves of garlic to the mix could only make it better! :)

Absolutely delicious as a raw broccoli salad too!

My husband does not like roasted vegetables. So I steamed broccoli with a little water and butter then added the sauce when tender. Stir fried for a short minute. Sprinkled chili flakes and sesame seeds. Yum!

Request to have again! Broccoli not really soft enough but crisp. Florets have crispy smokey flavor Make sure grill is hot. Best thing: sauce left in bowl.... put in sauce pan. Add some corn starch and garlic and onion powder and margarine. And more oil and let simmer till fairly Thick. Great sauce over broccoli and rice. Maybe try blanching broccoli to get it soft throughout, prior to grilling. Also try one broiler as well. Needed lots of broccoli for two dinner size portion with rice.

This did not work out well for me. The broccoli was a bit dried out and and way to strong n flavor due to the balsamic vinegar. I don't doubt this could be good if prepared well.

Following the suggestion to improvise, I used fresh asparagus, added slivered almonds, and put under the broiler until it looked done. Served over saffron brown jasmine rice, garnished with chopped egg and red pepper flakes. Delicious and easy.

Much better roasted than as written. I poured the sauce all over the broccoli garlic and roasted at 450 for 35 min. They came out crispy instead of soggy like with pan frying.

This was on the menu when I visited my son and cooked dinner with him. He invited a few friends over including a neighbor, a young man whose wife was away on a 6-month military deployment. He said, "Ma'am, that was the best meal I've had since my wife deployed." About a week later, my son called. His friend told him, "I was dreaming about your mom's broccoli. Will you get the recipe for me?" A definite winner.

This was lovely. I used 2Tbspoon soy sauce, 2Tbspoon balsamic vinegar and 1Tbspoon maple syrup, and a tiny bit of groundnut oil. I also added a bit of minced garlic and red pepper flakes, 20 minutes roasting at 200 Celsius. I added the florets to a baking sheet with chicken legs, 20 minutes before the chicken was done, and had some rice with it. Yummy

Did this in the wok. Used sherry vinegar instead of balsamic, otherwise same ingredients. Threw in a little leftover roasted cashews and a little leftover coconut basmati at the end, sprinkled with a little sesame oil. Was a really tasty quick meal. Next time I think I will try the balsamic (or rice) vinegar instead, but it was still nice.

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