Broccoli Salad

My relationship with broccoli has improved by lightyears since I started blogging. The thing is, my family never really cooked with broccoli, except from my grandma’s occasional crunchy salad or simple vegetable stew and my father’s steamed broccoli with lemon and butter. That was probably the only modern broccoli meal I would see in my family’s kitchen.

Times changed and my love for broccoli grew with every bite of sticky asian concoctions, creamy broccoli soups, oven-roasted broccoli with tons of garlic, oh, and broccoli rabe, of course.

Crunchy broccoli or to be more precise, fresh broccoli salads with creamy dressings are no novelty, but this one’s my take on the latter. The cool thing about this recipe is that you can make it either vegetarian or vegan, the only difference being natural yoghurt in the dressing.

What’s Cool About It

• Vegetarian or vegan
• Perfect for lunchboxes
• Make-ahead recipe
• Meal prep
• Ready in 15 minutes

Instructions

Firstly prep the ingredients: chop fresh broccoli into very small pieces, chop up the shallot and parsley, toasted pecans, cut the celery stick into paper thin slices, cut apple into thin strips. Remove pomegranate seeds from the peel. Mix everything in a large bowl, add dried cranberries, squeeze lemon juice on top, drizzle with tahini, olive oil, yoghurt, sprinkle a couple of generous pinches of salt and black pepper. Mix everything using your hands. Adjust saltiness if needed.

To make ahead: Mix everything except the dressing ingredients in a large bowl, transfer into an airtight container to preserve freshness. Mix dressing in a separate dish and pour into an airtight container. Keep the salad and the dressing in the fridge until ready to eat.