Broccoli Stir Fry

I just discovered a nice benefit that this blog is going to provide to my mom (aka Grandma). She often asks me for recipes only to get very irritated when I tell her all the things I changed in the recipe. It is made worse because I don't usually measure, I just judge by looks. This makes it almost impossible for her to recreate my meals. Now that I am posting them here, though, I am forced to actually measure out my ingredients and be a little more precise. I realized this tonight when I pulled out what I had originally written years ago for this recipe. I was shocked to find that it wasn't anything like how I make it now!

I'm not sure when we discovered that Kay likes broccoli but I'm sure glad we did. I vaguely remember a few years ago making something with a variety of vegetables in it and noticing that she was picking out the broccoli. Unlike other recipes, there isn't much she actually helps with when making this. She does get to use the fancy chopper for the garlic though.


1 cup chopped onion

1 pound broccoli florets

2 T olive oil

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 T ginger, grated

1/3 cup vegetable broth

1 T soy sauce

1/2 T sesame seeds

Pinch of red pepper flakes

1/2 pound vermicelli

Prepare vermicelli according to the directions.

Saute the onion, garlic and red pepper flakes in the oil over medium-low heat for about 5 minutes. Add the broccoli and cook until it turns bright green (about 5 minutes). Stir in the soy sauce, ginger, and broth and cook 2 additional minutes.

Top the vermicelli with the broccoli. Add the sesame seeds right before serving.

This recipe serves the three of us with no leftovers so you may want to double the recipe.

Kay: If you never tried broccoli, you should eat the flower part first and you may like that. And then you can eat the stem part because it doesn't have as much taste. I didn't think I would like broccoli when I first tried it but it was actually good. I like to put butter on mine and with parmesan cheese too.

Mom: Bill doesn't think he likes soy sauce or sesame seeds but he eats this without a comment!

One time I thought I was doing Kay a favor by cooking her broccoli separately just in some oil. She tasted it and asked me if I could put the "seasoning" on it so I guess I didn't do her a favor after all! Finally, a recipe all of us eat exactly the same!