This salad was a really nice change from my usual recipes. I always love a good chopped salad, but tend to gravitate towards the same basic salad structure- cucumbers, bell peppers, and then some variety of olive. Even though I used a lot of the same ingredients I typically would in any salad I make, I flipped them around a little to get a new end result.
The full truth is, I usually shy away from making a broccoli salad because a- I actually don’t enjoy raw broccoli, and b- they’re usually made with a creamy dressing, which I don’t particularly like either.
Regardless, broccoli has been one of the most affordable veggies lately, so instead of using it the same way I always do, or following a recipe that didn’t really appeal to me, I decided to prepare broccoli in a way I enjoy, then “saladify” it. The trick for me, blanch the broccoli! That way, it’s still crisp, but doesn’t taste raw.
Health Benefits of this Broccoli Salad
- Broccoli: good source of vitamin C, great for immunity
- Chickpeas: Excellent source of plant based protein
- Lemon: High in vitamin C and fiber
Ingredients
- 1 head of broccoli, chopped into bite size pieces
- 1/2 can of chickpeas
- 1 can of hearts of palm, sliced
- 1/3 cup green peas (I used frozen)
- 1/2 english cucumber, sliced
- 1/2 lemon
- 1/2 tbsp olive oil
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 1 large bowl filled with ice + water
Recipe
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil, toss in your broccoli. Cover and cook 1 minute and 30 seconds.
- Remove the broccoli from the water and place in your ice bath to stop the cooking.
- If you’re using frozen peas like I did, add them to the boiling water the broccoli was in. Cook for 3 minutes
- Toss the peas in the ice bath and let cool
- Drain the water and let the broccoli and peas dry off before adding them to the salad.
- Combine the broccoli, peas, hearts of palm, chickpeas and cucumber in a bowl.
- Combine the lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper in a small container with a lid. Mix well. You can add more lemon at this stage if you enjoy a more “lemony” flavour
- Portion out the salad and add the dressing. Enjoy!
Option- you can also top the salad with sliced avocado. This adds a great amount of healthy fat to the recipe.
You can also leave the broccoli raw for this recipe- I just enjoy the taste of cooked broccoli more than raw.
