Waffles and Oven-Roasted Broccoli

Don't you love to have breakfast for dinner? Omelets are my go-to meal when we get home late from traveling or when my creativity flags--it's just so easy and so tasty to throw in bits of left-over kale, sauté the remaining two or three mushrooms in the fridge and toss in whatever cheese is on hand along with plenty of salt and pepper. On the other hand, I actually plan for waffles.

I use a recipe in a small cookbook I've had since college, "Cooking with Wholegrains" that is, by now, a bit beaten. I used to have frozen tofu sausages in the freezer that were easy to microwave and serve alongside the waffles, but now-a-days we skip those 'cause they are so high in sodium. Surprisingly, broccoli works really well with waffles. Yep. It's true.

Roasting any vegetable is magical of course, but it really does change the character of broccoli. (That said, until I discovered this, I did in fact serve steamed broccoli with the waffles--keeping it on the crunchy side of course.) Roasting broccoli, tossed with olive oil, salt and pepper takes only 10-15 minutes or so in a 400 degree oven. It comes out slightly charred, sweet, and tasting nothing like the broccoli you thought you knew.

I suppose the reason this pairing works for me is the contrast of flavors--something on the tart and crisp side to contrast with the richness of butter, bread and syrup--something akin to having berries or oranges with waffles as well. Not that the principle of contrasts works 100 percent of the time. But sometimes unusual, but contrasting flavors work out--witness the times that the Top Chef judges point our unusual pariings that they didn't think would work, but that turn out to taste just right.

Here's an article I wrote about combining flavors:
http://www.livestrong.com/article/258258-how-to-combine-flavors-in-healthy-eating/