Pure Thyme

For a Balanced Life

Vegan Broccoli Salad

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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 has 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 is loved at mine. I have served it to my children since they could eat it and they love it. If your kids don’t like it I suggest continuing 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 amount of mayo by blending an avocado to make the dressing. The avocado adds some good fats and 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.

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Summer Fest: Vegan Broccoli Salad
 
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Author:
Recipe type: Side
Ingredients
  • 1 avocado
  • 1 tbsp vegan mayonnaise
  • 1 tbsp date syrup or pure maple syrup
  • 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
  • 2 tbsp raw apple cider vinegar
  • 2 tbsp Dr. Fuhrman's Riesling Raisin Vinegar or other sweet vinegar
  • ½ tsp minced garlic
  • ½ cup unsweetened non dairy milk of choice
  • 1 head broccoli, cut into bit-sized pieces
  • ½ cup shredded carrot
  • ½ cup red onion, finely chopped
  • ¼ cup raisins
  • ¼ cup raw sunflower seeds
  • Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
  1. In a blender or food processor, add avocado, mayonnaise, date or maple syrup, lemon juice, vinegars, garlic, and non-dairy milk and blend until smooth.
  2. In a large mixing bowl, combine broccoli, carrots, red onion, raisins, and sunflower seeds. Add dressing to bowl and toss until well coated. Season with freshly ground black pepper and chill in the refrigerator for a couple hours.

 

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!

 

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Check out these other great recipes for Summer Fest featuring broccoli:

 

*I received a free coupon from Earth Balance to try out their new Mindful Mayo in some of my recipes. =)

Comments

    • Jennifer says

      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?

  10. Alex says

    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

  11. Jennifer Parrish says

    I made this broccoli salad as part of our first vegan Thanksgiving meal, and it was absolutely wonderful! Thanks so much for sharing!

    • Jennifer says

      Thanks for leaving this awesome feedback and sorry for my delayed response…took some time off blogging because of some personal issues…so now that I’m back and I’m updating recipes and looking for comments I never replied too!

      xoxo

      Jen

  12. Kristi says

    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)

    • Jennifer says

      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

    • Jennifer says

      Yes typo!! I fixed it thanks so much for letting me know, I transferred the recipe to a printable recipe the other day and I guess it got a little screwy 😉

      Jen

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