The FULL File: Baby, meet Honey

Here's another fun use for those delicious baby Vidalia onions should you have some handy.  This recipe stems from a sort-of challenge in my own mind with my husband.  The evening before, we were discussing the bees.  Of course, I was animated and excited.  He was dozing off.  Something, I can't image what, inspired me to ask my husband if he even likes honey.  He responded quickly with, "Oh my yes!  I just love honey to bits! I'm not sure.  When do I even eat honey?  What is it in?"  Say what?  I saw this as a challenge and an opportunity to enlighten my husband to the wonders of honey.  And, since we know he digs onions and I still had four left, I decided to go that route.  I was already planning on serving chicken in a teriyaki marinade and being a person who loves a theme, I decided to stick with Asian.  So, I immediately thought soy sauce.  And, then for reasons unknown to me, I thought lemons and rice wine vinegar.  It helped that I had them on hand and was determined to avoid a trip to the grocery store.  Now, I also thought sriracha, ginger and garlic, but there it got complicated so I stopped.  As with anything that comes out of my brain and results in food, this can be tweaked to no end to make it even better if you have the talent and fearlessness.  So go for it!  This is what I ended up with:

Honey and Soy Glazed Roasted Broccoli and Baby Vidalia Onions
serves 4
1 head of broccoli
4 baby Vidalia Onions
2 tablespoons of good honey, local if possible
1 tablespoon of rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons of lite soy sauce
1/4 lemon, juiced
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
sea salt
pepper

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
• Trim the stalks (the green parts) off the onions leaving about 4 inches.  Cut the onions in half lengthwise.  
• Chop the broccoli however you like.
• Put the broccoli and onions on a baking sheet.  Drizzle the broccoli and onions with olive oil.  Sprinkle with sea salt and pepper.
• Combine the honey, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar and lemon juice and mix well.  This would also be a good time to add any spices like garlic, ginger, crushed red pepper flakes, a hit of hot sauce, lemon peel, etc.  You get the idea.
• Pour this over the broccoli and onions and shake them in the pan to get decent coverage on the vegetables.
• Roast in the oven for 15 minutes, tossing them around about half way through.

As we sat down to dinner, I anxiously awaited my husband's response to the veggies.  He loved them.  Or, that's what he said, anyway.  He is so sweet to me, one can never be sure.  It could be horrible and he would tell me it's delicious and eat every bite.  Two weeks later, which doesn't work for the purposes of this blog (Sorry- consider yourself warned!), he will gently tell me it wasn't his favorite.  Anyway, I asked him, "Can you guess what's in the marinade?"  Immediate deer in headlights reaction at the table.  I can only imagine what was going on in his mind, "This is a test.  I am supposed to know.  This is like when she asks me if I notice anything new or different about her."  I got, "Ummmm."  I said, "Honey!  There is honey in this!"  To which he laughed and responded, "Oh!  I get it.  Well, then, I guess I like honey!"  Baby, meet honey!

A tiny jar of honey I received as a gift for participating in the Metro Atlanta Beekeeper's Short Course in January.  It has been waiting for a special occasion.  I think this qualifies!

The broccoli and the onions, prepped.

On the pan, dressed and headed into the oven.

Dinner is served!