Vegan Healthy Creamy Broccoli Salad
It isn’t a barbecue in our house without some Creamy Broccoli Salad! Is broccoli salad a favorite in your home? If you’re not familiar with Creamy Broccoli Salad, it’s a slightly, sweet, tangy, creamy and perfectly crunchy, chopped salad filled with bright, Summer flavors.
Let’s step back a bit, traditional creamy broccoli salad is made with mayonnaise, bacon and a few other ingredients that have no place in a nutritious salad in my humble opinion. I mean, where is the salad line drawn? Is it still a salad if there’s a heap of mayonnaise, butter and gummy bears in it? Okay, I’m exaggerating a tad but I like my salads healthy and will save the less than healthy servings for my huge sweet tooth and love of desserts!
It’s always cool being in a relationship with somebody from another country and culture, when J and I first started going out, things I grew up loving were totally new to him and some staples in his diet were completely new to me. When we moved in together, the first few months, I cooked staples for us that were such an integral part of my childhood (like Mac & Cheese, chocolate chip cookies and basically anything made with peanut butter – who knew Peanut Butter is such an American/Canada phenomenon?!?).
And now, I’ve finally made J my favorite Creamy Broccoli Salad, albeit a bit healthier and more vegan than the one I grew up on. 😉
J was a bit skeptical when he came in the kitchen and saw me chopping up red onions, avocado and a mountain of broccoli. The skepticism increasingly grew as I started throwing raisins into our salad and then a heap of sunflower seeds, ha!
And then I served the salad and we all had THREE servings. The entire Creamy Broccoli Salad disappeared within a couple of hours of making it. #YesPlease #BringOnTheBroccoli
Can we all agree it’s a good sign when your loved ones want extra helpings of salad? That’s what I call veggies done right! 😉
Healthy Creamy Broccoli Salad
- Total Time: 25 mins
- Yield: 8 servings 1x
Description
It isn’t a barbecue in our house without some Creamy Broccoli Salad. Broccoli salad is a slightly, sweet, tangy, creamy and perfectly crunchy, chopped salad filled with bright, Summer flavors. This salad tastes even better the next day after marinating in the fridge for a few hours.
Ingredients
Salad
- 2 heads broccoli, chopped (9 cups broccoli florets)
- 1 avocado, chopped
- 3/4 cup red onion, chopped
- 3/4 cup raisins
- 1/2 cup roasted sunflower seeds (unsalted)
Dressing
- 1 avocado
- 1 clove garlic
- 2 tbsp sunflower seeds
- 3 tbsp lemon juice
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/2 tsp dijon mustard
- 1/2 tsp dried basil
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 1 tbsp coconut or cane sugar
- 2 – 3 splashes hot sauce (to taste)
Garnish
- Parsley
- Sunflower Seeds
Instructions
- Prepare the vegetables: Chop broccoli into bite size pieces, finely chop the avocado and red onion. Add the chopped broccoli, red onion and avocado along with the raisins and sunflower seeds to a large bowl.
- Make the dressing: Add all of the ingredients for the dressing (avocado through to hot sauce to a blender). Blend until smooth and creamy (it will take a couple minutes for the sunflower seeds to dissolve and the dressing to become completely creamy).
- Toss it all together: Toss the dressing with the broccoli mixture until all the broccoli is completely coated with the creamy dressing. Cover and seal tightly in the fridge until ready to serve. Tastes even better after marinating in the fridge for a few hours. Garnish with parsley and additional sunflower seeds.
Notes
1) It’s very important to make sure to seal the broccoli salad in the fridge well before serving to make sure the avocado does not turn brown and oxidize.
2) Double this dressing for an extra creamy salad!
- Prep Time: 25 mins
- Category: Side
- Cuisine: American
If you try this Vegan Healthy Creamy Broccoli Salad, it makes my day seeing your delicious #CearasKitchen creations. Share your photos with me on Instagram @CearasKitchen (and remember to tag #CearasKitchen so I don’t miss it!) or share it on my Ceara’s Kitchen Facebook page.
