So last night’s soup was just as delicious, if not even more so, today at lunch. Justin even happily ate it again! And he usually does NOT like leftovers. Thankfully, the greens kept their firm bite, and the flavors melded together but didn’t get lost in each other.

I changed up my cooking plans for tonight because the broccoli was ready to eat, and I was afraid it wouldn’t keep until Saturday. So I roasted it up and served it with pasta and a browned butter sauce. This is one of Justin’s favorite ways to eat veggies, and the roasting/sauce works well with just about anything (asparagus, zucchini, carrots…). I would rather have used something like farfalle or ziti for this, but I wanted to use up this random box of tubetti that we had in the pantry. The browned butter coated the pasta and broccoli perfectly, and was nutty and delicious.

We also had a salad with romaine, carrots, avocado, and Israeli feta. Yum.

I’m not sure what we’ll be making tomorrow night… I might be changing up the menu. Anyway, it’s just nice to be in the kitchen again.

Roasted Vegetables with Balsamic Browned Butter

• 4 broccoli crowns (or a bunch of asparagus, or a few zucchini), separated into florets
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon water
• 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar

Preheat oven to 400F. Arrange veggies in a single layer on  a baking sheet. Spray with cooking spray or drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake for 10 – 12 minutes, or until tender.

Melt butter in a small skillet over medium heat; cook 3 minutes or until lightly browned, shaking pan occasionally. Remove from heat and let cool a bit; stir in soy sauce, water and balsamic vinegar (if you add the other liquids while the butter is still on the flame or is still really hot, it will pop and sizzle a LOT). Drizzle over veggies, tossing well to coat.

Note: I just tossed the sauce with the roasted broccoli and about 8 ounces of cooked pasta.

Makes 4 – 6 servings.

Adapted from Cooking Light magazine.