January 15, 2014 January 15, 2014/ Morgan
I’m sure you’ve seen broccoli salads at potlucks or next to fresher greens in a salad bar. They are usually covered in fatty dressing, and combined with cheese, nuts, dried fruit and bacon. Talk about a calorie bomb for something that you’re thinking could be healthy! I mean, it has BROCCOLI, right? Except wrong. It’s generally more of a big pile of unhealthy sprinkled with a few vegetables. Let’s change that, shall we?
This version is, of course, vegan and plant strong. It also has a TON of flavor and textures to make it extremely satisfying. I can’t wait for summer when I can take a dish of this to the beach with some other yummy snacks.. it just sounds like perfect picnicking food. And potlucks?! Bring it!
Oh and it’s totally 3 year old approved, but just a disclaimer: I have one of the best eaters on the planet. She loves all sorts of foods so I have no idea how picky eaters would feel about. That said, it’s sweet, savory and OH SO yummy with a Tofu BLT on the side that I’m sure that you won’t mind too much if you get to keep it all to yourself!
- 5 cups broccoli, cut into bite sized florets
- 1 cup Plant Strong Mayonnaise (or your favorite low/no fat vegan mayonnaise)
- 2 teaspoons miso (whatever kind you have)
- 2 cloves garlic, grated with a microplane or finely minced
- 4 green onions, sliced
- 1/4 cup crystalized ginger, minced (my favorite place to get this is Trader Joes!)
- 1 apple, cored and chopped (to keep it from browning toss it with some lemon juice)
- 1 cup orange segments (we used clementines but mandarines or any other oranges would work)
- 1 Tablespoon toasted sesame seeds (*See note at the end of the recipe about toasting sesame seeds)
Bring a large pot of water to a boil and throw the broccoli in to blanch them. Cook for about 1 minute and then remove. Immediately either plunge them into a large bowl of cold water or rinse them in a colander with cold water to stop the cooking process.
Blend the plant strong mayonnaise with the miso and garlic.
Combine the broccoli, miso mayonnaise, onions, ginger, apple, sesame seeds and oranges in a large bowl. Toss everything together.
*To toast the sesame seeds – place the seeds in a skillet over medium high heat. Make sure to stay with the pan because this should take less than 2 minutes. Shake the pan back and forth over the heat as the seeds start to brown. Some may pop up and out of the pan if you’re not careful! Once they are nice and brown take the pan off the heat and remove the seeds.