Winning Cashew Broccoli


All good things must come to an end… We must say that this is the best contest we have ever hosted! We were wonderfully impressed with all the recipes you all uncovered in our contest challenge. In fact, we were inspired to cook one of the recipes from the Cooking Planit collection. We had a big container of cashews from Costco in the pantry (which we can highly recommend) and the broccoli looks amazing this time of year, so we decided to try Emily Wilson’s Cashew Broccoli. We were thrilled with the flavors and textures of this recipe.

  • 2 heads of broccoli (4-5 cups of florets)
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1/3 cup cashews, crumbled
  • 1 tablespoon canola oil
  • 2 teaspoons sesame oil
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper, (optional)
  • 1/3 cup water

Trim the broccoli florets off the stem into bite-size pieces. Smash the garlic under the side of your chef's knife to remove the peel. Mince the garlic or use a garlic press.

Heat a medium sauté pan over medium heat. Once pan is warm, add the cashews and toast until golden brown, about 5-7 minutes. Shake pan often and keep a close watch to prevent burning. Transfer toasted nuts to a plate to cool.

Place the pan back over medium heat and add canola oil to warm. Once the oil is warm, add the garlic and sauté for about 30 seconds, and then add the (pepper flakes and) broccoli florets. Sauté a few minutes to soften, then pour in the water. Cook until the water has evaporated and the broccoli is tender about 5 minutes. Stir often.

Once broccoli is tender and liquid has evaporated, add the soy sauce and sesame oil. Add the cashews back to the pan as well and toss to combine. Remove the pan from the heat and transfer the cashew broccoli to a serving bowl or dinner plates. Oh, and be sure to save any leftovers because it is really quite good served cold.

Thanks for indulging us our recipe revelation. And, without further ado (imagine a drum roll in the background), Diane Conover is the winner of the 26-spice set from Cooking Planit. For all those of you who entered but did not win, please be sure to visit our friends at Dixie Chik Cooks, Baby Boomster, Unorganized Mommy of 3, Much Ado About Fooding, Better with Butter, The Primlani Kitichen, Mother Would Know, California Country Gal, Yi Reservation, NY Foodgasm, ME Redone, and Creative Cullinary for more chances to win.

Can’t wait to win? You can order your own custom spice set from Spices Inc. Thanks to everyone for entering! Please remember to subscribe to receive email updates from us and come back and visit often!