Two veggie dishes worth trying

You would swear that these onions in barbecue sauce had been sugared, but they haven't. The flavor is sweet and spicy. The recipe is from Microwave Gourmet (nope, not a joke).

1.5 lb cipolline or flat white onions (I used Vidalia)
1/2 c white wine vinegar
1/4 c balsamic vinegar
1/4 c white wine
3/4 c chunky tomato sauce (I used original RoTel tomatoes with chile peppers and skipped the hot sauce, below)
2 tbs olive oil
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp ground cardamom
1/4 tsp dry mustard powder
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp hot sauce (BUT see tomato sauce above)

Combine all ingredients in a microwave-safe dish. Cover tightly and cook in microwave at 70% power for 15 min. Uncover and cook up to 10 more min (I quartered the recipe and cooked only 3 min after uncovering).

Here's the more time-consuming second recipe:
Broccoli with Parmesan fritelle (from the Tra Vigne Cookbook: Seasons in the California Wine Country) is one that I tried before, two years ago, but misinterpreted the recipe. Given another chance, it performed quite well -- no surprise, as Tra Vigne is one of Vic's and my favorite restaurants in the world. The trick is to make the fritelle well beforehand, let it cool, and crumble it up. Then you add it on top of the broccoli only after the broccoli is on the plate, so that the fritelle has no chance to soften.

unsalted butter to grease foiled baking sheet plus
4 tbs unsalted butter
1 c Parmesan cheese (I used the 3-cheese blend from the polenta recipe)
1 lg bunch broccoli
2 tbs lemon juice (I squeezed a lemon)
1 tbs finely chopped fresh sage
Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 350. Line baking sheet with foil and butter the foil well, leaving no spot unbuttered. Sprinkle cheese in an even, thin layer over the foil. Cook only until lightly browned, about 5 min. Remove from oven, remove foil from baking sheet, and let cool. Then peel the foil back from the crisped cheese, crumbling it into a bowl. (The cookbook says the cheese can even be re-crisped in a nonstick skillet.)

Bring salted water to a boil while you cut the broccoli florets from the thick stems. Cook broc in boiling water until very tender, 8-10 min. Drain, put on serving dish, and season with salt and pepper.

Chope the sage finely. Melt the 4 tbs butter in a skillet over medium-high. Squeeze the lemon; when the butter begins to turn brown, add the lemon juice and the sage. Turn off the heat. Pour the butter over the broccoli.

When served, sprinkle fritelle over the top.