The Best Broccoli Salad
I’ve eaten many a broccoli salad in my day. Some have creamy mayo-based dressings, some have sweet dried fruit, some have orange cheese and bacon. None of those are my favorite.
This is my favorite broccoli way to make a broccoli salad. The dressing is creamy with the addition of two different kinds of mustards, but zingy with the juice of two lemons. It has an awesome richness from the pine nuts and avocado, and just the right amount of super sharp (white) cheddar cheese.
It can be made ahead of time (just add the avo, cheese and pine nuts when you’re ready to serve), and there’s no cooking of the broccoli to be done (the lemon cooks it just enough). It is easy to make and even easier to eat a whole bowl.
Have fun!
The Best Broccoli Salad
2018-03-29 20:40:29
Serves 6
Total Time
20 min
Ingredients
- 1 finely chopped shallot
- 1 Tbsp cider vinegar
- 1 Tbsp dijon mustard
- 1 Tbsp deli style brown mustard ( I like the horseradish kind)
- 2 lemons, juiced
- 2 Tbsp honey
- 3 Tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 2 bunches of broccoli (see notes)
- 1 cup grated sharp cheddar
- 1 avocado, chopped
- 3 Tbsp toasted pine nuts
Instructions
- Combine shallot through salt from list above in the bottom of a large bowl using a whisk. Set aside.
- Chop broccoli into florets, and set stems aside. Using a food processor, pulse broccoli in batches (don't add too much or it wont chop uniformly), until chopped small (see picture). It's ok for some medium pieces to remain. Add to big bowl with dressing as you do each batch.
- Chop the tough ends off of the stems, and chop into 1 inch pieces. Pulse in the food processor as well until uniformly 1/4 inch pieces. Add to bowl as well.
- Toss together broccoli with dressing. You can let it sit in the fridge for a few hours (or even overnight), or eat right away tossed with the cheese, avocados and pine nuts. Season with more salt and pepper if necessary.
Notes
- When I buy broccoli it usually comes as 2-3 heads in one package, so buy two of those and it will yield about 8-10 cups of chopped broccoli.
The Sea Salt http://theseasalt.com/
April 5, 2018 @ 7:43 am
This salad is really good!! Alittle tangy rather than sweet which is just what we like. I chopped everything with a knife and we ate it right away. It doesn’t have to sit. I made it as a side salad for Easter and then we wanted more for lunches so we made more. I didn’t have enough broccoli so we also used chopped celery, spinach, and grated carrots. This dressing is so good, I may try it on other veggies.
April 5, 2018 @ 8:01 am
Glad you guys liked it! Other veggies were a good call! I always have this dressing in my fridge for salads- it’s pretty versatile and doesn’t need a lot of oil 🙂