Internet, meet the broccoflower.
I’m going to assume your reaction is similar to mine at the grocery store and somewhere along the lines of “what in hell is that?!”
At least that’s what I’m hoping for otherwise it’s official that I live under some rock having never seen this stegosaurus looking vegetable before.
You can’t see a spiky, almost fluorescent green, new to you vegetable in the store for $1.49 and not pick it up, right? I actually grabbed this then ran around looking for Ulysses like a kid in a toy store seeking parental approval. Funny, he wasn’t nearly as excited about my find as I was.
Now humor me and tell me those spikes remind you of the back of a stegosaurus because that’s all I could think about the entire time I was cutting this thing up. That and trying to remember how long ago it was since Jurassic Park came out (1993 in case you’re wondering, I was 11). And then since my mind was on dinosaurs, I started thinking about the paleo diet (get it? dinosaurs…paleolithic era…paleo diet..stay with me now) and wondering if this broccoflower existed back then.
Wouldn’t you like to spend a day in my head? It’s a good time.
Besides it’s funky appearance though, this pretty much acts, smells and tastes exactly like the offspring of broccoli and cauliflower. Which, I guess is the point.
Since roasting is my favorite way to enjoy broccoli (I hardly ever buy cauliflower), I figured that’s the way I’d go here. Except sassed up with some Indian flava.
When we lived in Florida we had Indian neighbors a few houses down from us. We’d take walks pretty much nightly since we had a puppy weimaraner at the time who had the energy levels of the friggin energizer bunny and we’d walk past the Indian neighbors house to literally smell the curry seeping out onto the street through closed windows and doors. That stuff tastes delicious but man, does it linnnnnger.
Point of that little side story? My house still smells like curry after 24 hours and I only used 1/4 teaspoon of the stuff. Proceed with caution.
But definitely proceed because these mini stegosaurus ridges will make your mouth happy in a crispy, crunchy, curry kind of way.
- 1 large head of broccoflower cut into small florets (can substitute regular broccoli or cauliflower)
- ¼ cup breadcrumbs
- ¼ teaspoon curry powder
- ¼ teaspoon garam masala
- ½ teaspoon fresh ginger, minced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon cilantro, minced
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon milk
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees
- Line a baking sheet with foil and grease.
- Combine dry ingredients into a shallow bowl.
- Combine egg and milk in a small bowl and whisk together.
- Dip florets first into the egg mixture, coating well and then into the breadcrumb mixture in batches.
- Spread out on baking sheet.
- Roast for 25-30 minutes, tossing once.
{ 29 comments… read them below or add one }
I have seen this funky looking thing at the store and always whizzed past it. Must have been my fear of the sharp edges.
I love roasting veggies, but I’ve never used bread crumbs in the mix but what a good idea – I’ll be doing that on the next go round. I guess I’ll have to just make some cookies to get rid of the curry smell. (Twist my arm.)
Hmmm I’ve never actually seen one of these things…
wow, that’s seriously one of the weirdest things i’ve ever seen lol..same reaction: what the eff. pretty cool, though. i totally would’ve bought it just for how cool it looks. yes, does remind me of a stegosaurus!! what a great idea to turn a whack looking thing into something delicious
hhaha love your train of thought! But all I can think of when staring at the first picture of yours if Fibonacci numbers and how I won the math fair in 8th grade with a project on that. hahah
I think this is such a pretty veggie!! Whenever I see them in our store, I always want to pick them up to use in some sort of centerpiece, rather than eat them
Although it looks pretty tasty here too!
that’s a really good idea. It would look lovely on my dark wood dining room table
That thing is kind of freaky looking! I’ve never seen one before but I’ve heard of them. The dish looks amazing, maybe I’ll try that with broccoli!
I LOVE LOVE LOVE curry on veg. and romanesco broccoli!! This sounds perfect.
Look at you using it’s real name. I’m sticking with broccoflower. Sounds way cooler
Haha, I know what you mean about curry smells. I love it though – indian is some of my favorite food
I’ve only ever seen pictures of a broccoflower before – they look so cool! I know I’d love them, I wish I could find one to try. I love roasted cauliflower and broccoli too though 
I’m in LOVE!!! That looks so good. Question though – did your broccoflower cost like $23092309? I find that those hybrid ones cost so much!
No! that’s the weird thing, it was only $1.49, same price as the regular cauliflower! And, it was organic. Score
I grew up eating broccoflower, but I haven’t seen it recently. Of course, the store by my house kind of sucks, so there’s that. I’ll have to try it with cauliflower.
Pretty! Well… in an alien kind of way.
yummmmmm roasted cauliflower and roasted brocc are my favorite! I cannot ponder a mixture between the two with the crunchy coating – mind blowing good!
That is the craziest looking vegetable I’ve ever seen. I’m willing to bet it’s not at our local Stop and Shop.
Two things:
1. A new vegetable in your supermarket costs $1.49?! Heck, in Cali, that would be $4.49. So tired of west coast prices. Farmer’s market price: $6. Yeah. Sorry to complain.
2. I cracked up reading about you running through the store to seek approval of your new find!
I have a bootleg/ghetto Asian produce store by me that I’m convinced gets this stuff on the black market because their prices are insanely cheap. Believe me though, it’s about the only good thing about where I live. Otherwise, total sticks..
I love the roasted recipe and I love the pics of that green, spiny, strange-looking cauli. For about a year, I had an image of one of those as my header image on my blog! But can you believe, I’ve never roasted one. Whoops.
Ha, that’s funny! Here I am thinking this is like the newest veggie or something and apparently lots of people know about it. Obviously, I do live under that rock.
Yum! Broccoflower is tasty, and kind of looks like a fractal, which makes my math-geek of a husband very happy. I bought some from the farmer’s market once, brought it home, washed it and steamed it, only to find that it was full of little aphids AFTER we’d eaten it half of it. Of course I’m sure yours was totally fine; I just wasn’t very observant. :/
Aphids!? Omg, I would’ve gagged. I’m actually almost gagging now just thinking about it!
haha.. yes, Indian households do smell when cooking Indian food, that’s why I refrain from it a bit… but it’s hard to cuz I’m of Indian origin. Just open up the windows and use that scented plug-in, and burn some candles. This looks crazy good btw..
I picked up one of those at Whole Foods a little bit ago. I couldn’t cook with it because it went bad so fast :/. I think I’m going to have to pick it up again and make this delicious recipe!
How have I never heard of Broccoflower?! I need to find one asap. It sounds delicious! And it’s so funny looking- I’d probably buy one just because of it’s appearance.
Thanks for introducing me to something new! (:
Beautiful product of genetic engineering
Will make it to my area in 2025! I love roasting broccoli and cauliflower. I love Indian food any day 
I am so behind on making what you offer on your blog, but some day it will all come to life.
No, you definitely haven’t been living under a rock, although I have eaten this before. I bought some at the farmer’s market last year, although it had a different name – Romanesco. I like Broccoflower better – it definitely describes it more clearly. My husband thought it was so cool looking he took pictures of it and everyone he showed the pictures to had never seen it before. You’re not alone in your excitement for it just based on its appearance!
I never realized those were broccoli flowers. This dish looks amazing!
So…this thing comes up in my Google Reader and I’m like—- WHAT THE?? WHAT IS THAT?! So I click on it and it opens in its own window. Now I’m like 2 millimeteres away from my screen going, WTF is that?!?!?!? If only I learned how to read…..