Broccoli Cornbread

Last year, my coworker friends and I started a tradition to celebrate birthdays. We exhausted some of the usual lunch spots so began holding Iron Chef challenges to celebrate the birthday honoree(s).  It was a slow start, but our food eventually graduated from store bought items to more elaborate dishes (e.g.: prosciutto wrapped stuffed dates, smoked tri-tip, authentic Filipino food, chorizo sliders...).  It's been a fun way to get out of the restaurant rut and learn new recipes. Did I mention there is a giant golden whisk trophy involved? It's kind of awesome. Anyways, this Cottage Cheese + Broccoli Cornbread won it for the cheese category. It's super savory and I really like the onions and broccoli mixed with the course corn meal texture. Don’t be thrown off by the name or seemingly out of place ingredients. It won for good reason--well done Rob. :)

You'll need: 
1 small yellow onion, chopped
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup cottage cheese, drained
1 teaspoon salt
1-8oz. package of corn muffin mix (I used 1 cup of Bob's Red Mill Cornbread & Muffin Mix)
1/2 cup butter, melted
1-10 oz. package of frozen chopped broccoli, thawed & drained (about 1 1/2 cups)


Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Grease a 8x8 pan.I've made these into muffins before. They tend to stick to the paper a bit, so I recommend making it in a baking pan, or greasing the muffin pan and doing it without the paper liners. 
1) Cook onions on medium low heat over oil, until translucent. Remove from heat and let cool.

2) Stir eggs, cheese, salt together till combined. Add corn muffin mix, butter, broccoli, and cooled onions.
3) Pour mixture into baking dish and bake for 25-35 minutes, or until golden brown.
4) Let stand for 5 minutes before removing pan.