Summer Fest is officially over and what a great way to end it with broccoli. The health benefits of broccoli are never ending. Broccoli contains high amounts of vitamin C, vitamin A, folic acid, fiber and potassium. Broccoli aids in detoxification, has anti-inflammatory benefits and contains anti-cancer nutrients. Broccoli is also easy to find and extremely versatile – I use it almost daily at my house.
Broccoli might be a dreaded addition to your meals at home, but it is loved at mine. I have been serving it to my children since they could eat it and they love it. If your kids don’t like it I suggest continue to put it on their plate and experiment with different recipes – I bet your children will love it eventually too. My daughter wouldn’t eat salad and I kept putting it on her plate and trying different dressings – she loves a homemade raspberry dressing I make – it took some time, but now she loves salad and asks for it daily. My 18 month old is starting to love salad too! Keep trying and don’t give up! =)
My mother-in-law serves a similar broccoli salad for guests and is one of my favorite things she makes. I decided to recreate a vegan version and cut down on the use of mayo by blending an avocado to make the dressing. Yes, avocado contains fat – but the good kind - it also adds so many nutritional benefits that mayo cannot offer – it was a good choice for this recipe. The recipe does contain a small amount of soy-free vegan mayo for the traditional flavor of the broccoli salad I love.
Next time, I would add fresh cut-up grapes instead of raisins and some cut-up apple to this salad. You an also substitute the sunflower seeds with your nut of choice – walnuts would be great – or leave the nuts out all together to decrease the fat or if you have an allergy. Also, I used Dr. F’s vinegar, but you can use all apple cider or if you think something else would work try that.
Summer Fest Vegan Broccoli Salad
Yield: 6-8 servings
Ingredients:
1 head broccoli, cut into bit-sized pieces
1/2 cup shredded carrot
1/2 cup red onion, finely chopped
1 avocado
1 tbsp Earth Balance Mindful Mayo
2 tbsp raisins
2 tbsp raw apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp Dr. Fuhrman’s Riesling Raisin Vinegar
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp date syrup or pure maple syrup
1/2 tsp minced garlic
1/2 cup unsweetened non dairy milk of choice
1/4 cup raw sunflower seeds
1/4 cup raisins
Fresh black pepper, to taste
Directions:
In a cuisinart fitted with an S-shaped blade, blend avocado, mayo, date or maple syrup, lemon juice, vinegar, garlic, and non-dairy milk until smooth.
In a large bowl, add broccoli, carrots, onion, raisins, and sunflower seeds. Add dressing to bowl and stir until well coated. Season with fresh black pepper and chill in the refrigerator. Serve immediately.
My leftovers kept nicely in the fridge for two days so far, still munching on this delish dish! (after that you’re probably pushing it because of the avocado)
Enjoy!
Check out these other great recipes for Summer Fest featuring broccoli:
Lemon Broccoli
Purple Cook: Pickled
Broccoli Chips
Daily*Dishin: Quick
Broccoli and Toasted Walnut Saute
From My Corner of Saratoga: Broccoli
with Garlic-Lemon Vinaigrette
Cooking Channel: Broccoli
Stir-Fry
Virtually Homemade: Broccoli
Frittata
Zaika Zabardast: Char-Grilled Broccoli with Cherry Chilies and Garlic
Tadka
Glory Foods: Steamed
Broccoli-Vegetable Medley
Food2: Slammin’
Broccoli Soup
Easy Peasy Organic: A Hands-On
Approach to Eating Broccoli
FN Dish: Broccoli
and Cheddar, A Perfect Pair
*I received a free coupon from Earth Balance to try out their new Mindful Mayo in some of my recipes. =)
 |
23 Responses to Summer Fest: Vegan Broccoli Salad
About Me
Hello, my name is Jennifer. I am the author and photographer of Virtually Vegan Mama. This site will chronicle my journey creating nutrient-rich, great tasting vegan cuisine. My goal is to make a plant-based diet so easy and delicious to follow that the whole family can incorporate it into their lives. I’m building a family cookbook and sharing it with you.Foodista
Facebook
Twitter
Email Me
Feedburner
Popular Posts
-
Foodgawker
Finding Vegan
One Green Planet
I love broccoli salad, this looks soo good!!!
Thanks Jennie =)
xoxo
[...] Broccoli with Garlic-Lemon Vinaigrette Cooking Channel: Broccoli Stir-Fry Virtually Vegan Mama: Vegan Broccoli Salad Virtually Homemade: Broccoli Frittata Zaika Zabardast: Char-Grilled Broccoli with Cherry Chilies [...]
Oh Jennifer, Your salad looks absolutely wonderful. I will have to look for the Mindful Mayo at our locals. Big thanks for sharing this recipe…
Thanks Barbara =) I found Mindful Mayo at my local whole foods.
xoxo
Jen
[...] with Garlic-Lemon Vinaigrette Cooking Channel: Broccoli Stir-Fry Virtually Vegan Mama: Vegan Broccoli Salad Virtually Homemade: Broccoli Frittata Zaika Zabardast: Char-Grilled Broccoli with Cherry Chilies [...]
That looks soo delicious and that too vegan. Sounds perfect. Would love to try it
Thanks.
That looks amazing. I used to love broccoli salad in my pregan days.
[...] Broccoli with Garlic-Lemon VinaigretteCooking Channel: Broccoli Stir-FryVirtually Vegan Mama: Vegan Broccoli SaladVirtually Homemade: Broccoli FrittataZaika Zabardast: Char-Grilled Broccoli with Cherry Chilies and [...]
i love broccoli! wonderful salad recipe! i’ve never heard of the earth balance mayo before. do u like the taste? is it considered healthy?
Hi Junia,
I do like the taste! it just came out recently and it tastes just like real mayo when you get the craving! I’m feeling naughty so I’m going to make tempeh BLT’s this week. yum! it’s made wth canola oil, water, brown rice syrup, apple cider vinegar, mustard and lemon…it contains oil so it does have 9 grams of fat in 1 tbsp so use sparingly =) does that help?
I adore broccoli salad. I am not vegan, but this recipe sounds wonderful. Thanks!
Thanks Pam, if you give it a try let me know if you like it =)
xoxo
Jen
Oh this just looks so delicious!! I am a real broccoli salad fan and this looks like a real keeper of a recipe!!
This looks fantastic! I’m a huge fan of broccoli, and probably eat it just about every day. Although – I haven’t had broccoli salad in ages, and would love to try this recipe.
This is certainly very yummy and def worth a try!
xoxo
Jen
Yum! My son loves broccoli and we just got a bit more in our CSA – I’ll have to try this.
Hello! I just would like to give a huge thumbs up for the great info you have here on this post. I will be coming back to your blog.
Best regards Alex
I made this broccoli salad as part of our first vegan Thanksgiving meal, and it was absolutely wonderful! Thanks so much for sharing!
I made this tonight for dinner for my family who dis-likes the idea of vegan dishes. I didnt even tell them it was vegan and my husband, 3yr old and 1 yr old ate it all up. My brother in law even ate it and he HATES veggies… period. He said he really liked it which is a MAJOR compliment from him. So thanks for this, it will be added into the side dish rotation. (really how many times can one eat plain steamed broccoli in a month)
Hi Krisit =)
Thank you for leaving this wonderful comment…it made my day…I’m so glad your family enjoyed this, it’s a favorite over here too…you know you have a winning recipe when veggie haters like it AND eat it! I had someone love my portobello wellington and this person hates mushrooms, never touched them and couldn’t believe he was eating a mushroom and loving it..lol
=)
thanks again =)
Jen
[...] 1, 2, 3 Escrita por Columbina, el septiembre 3, 2012 at 7:22 am, en la [...]
[...] Broccoli Salad from here. I don’t use mayo or milk for my dressing and I added chickpeas. Monday: I made my favorite [...]