Broccoli Crunch Salad

The success of this salad hinges on the broccoli. Make sure you try to not overcook it - you don’t want it turning to mush.

• 4-5 cups broccoli florets (and chopped stalks if you like)
• scant 1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
• 1/4 cup almond butter
• 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon honey
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons hot water
• 2 small crisp apples, cut into bit-sized pieces (if you aren’t going to use the apples immediately, let them sit in a bowl of water with the juice of 1/2 a lemon)
• 1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup toasted or candied walnuts or almonds
• 1/3 cup pan-fried crunchy shallots*
• chives (optional)

Bring a medium pot of water to a boil and salt as you would pasta water. Boil the broccoli just long enough to take the raw edge of - 10 or 15 seconds. Drain and immerse it in cold water (or let cold water run over it). At this point, I like to spin the broccoli in a salad spinner to get the water off, but a few good knocks against the sink in a strainer can do the trick pretty well. Set aside.

Make the dressing by sprinkling the salt over the clove of garlic. Smash the clove and chop, smash and chop - turning it into a paste. In a small bowl whisk the salty garlic paste with the almond butter, lemon juice, honey and olive oil. Add the hot water and whisk until light and creamy. Taste, make and adjustments and set aside.

In a large bowl gently toss the broccoli, apples, red onion, most of the shallots and nuts with a generous drizzle of the almond dressing. Turn out onto a platter and finish with the rest of the shallots and chives if you like. Serve family style.

Serves 4.

*Stir together the shallots, a splash of clarified butter (or olive oil) and big pinch of salt in a large skillet over medium heat. Stir every few minutes, you want the shallots to slowly brown over about fifteen minutes. Let them get dark, dark brown (but not burnt)

CALORIES 272 (36% from fat); FAT 13.8 (sat 1.55g, mono 5.72g, poly 1.16g); IRON 1.6mg; CHOLESTEROL 0mg; CALCIUM 85.7mg; CARBOHYDRATE 37.3g; SODIUM 31.1mg; PROTEIN 5.52g; FIBER 1.91g

Source:  www.101cookbooks.com