It’s day 5 of our 7 day Spring Salad Series and we’re really changing it up with this one. We love salads because one day you can make a Fruit Mint salad and the next an Asian-Style Broccoli Salad. There are no rules!
This recipe is a broccoli salad with an Asian twist. The creamy broccoli salad many of us are familiar with usually has mayo, sometimes cheese or bacon and is just a not so great option nutritionally.
That’s not the case with this gem! The Asian-style peanut sauce has a ton of flavor and offers that creamy texture similar to a conventional broccoli salad, but without all the bad stuff.
This recipe starts with blanching the broccoli. You do this by placing the broccoli in boiling water for 30 seconds and then directly into ice water.
There are a couple different reasons we blanch the brocooli in this recipe.
- Blanching removes some of the bitter taste.
- It makes the color of the veggies brighter which make your salad even prettier!
Asian Peanut Broccoli Salad
Ingredients
Salad Ingredients
- 1 head broccoli
- 1 cup shelled edamame
- 1/4 cup green onions sliced
- 1/2 cup peanuts
- 1/4 cup purple cabbage chopped
Dressing Ingredients
- 1/2 cup peanut butter
- 2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 2 Tbsp tamari or soy sauce
- 10 dates pitted
- 1/2 cup hot water
Instructions
Salad
- Cut broccoli head into small florets.
- Heat a large pot of water to a boil. Prepare a large bowl of ice water. Place the broccoli florets in the boiling water for 30 seconds. Using a mesh strainer, remove the broccoli florets from the hot water and place them directly into the ice water. This will blanch the broccoli. Remove the broccoli from the ice water by draining the water.
- To cook the edamame, I recommend putting a few tablespoons of water in a bowl along with the fresh or frozen edamame and placing it in the microwave, covered, for ~1 minute. Then drain the water out.
- Combine all the salad ingredients together in a large bowl and toss to combine.
Peanut Sauce
- Place all the peanut sauce ingredients in a food process and blend until smooth. If dressing is too think, add hot water 1 tablespoon at a time until it reaches your desired consistency. You want the dressing to be thick so it sticks to the salad.
