Broccoli Salad with Almonds and Cherries

Broccoli! We have been eating tons of it around here because a certain farm baby LOVES it. She grabs a stalk and sets to munching/sucking on it. I usually dip it in lots of butter for her as she ends up sucking on it more than eating these days, but she used to devour the whole stalk. Maybe she just likes the butter 🙂

When we don’t steam a big batch for her and us, we usually roast it. It’s definitely our favorite way to prepare broccoli. I roast it with salt and crushed red pepper and at the end, I add some minced garlic and a glug of sesame oil. So delicious. But with some fresh, beautiful broccoli, I decided I really needed to showcase the flavor. So I naturally thought a nice, crisp salad recipe would be great.

I went to the pantry and found some dried tart cherries and almonds. Yup. That will definitely work. I whipped up a quick dressing of whole grain mustard, lemon juice, and EVOO. Delish. Hope you enjoy this super simple, delicious recipe next time you find yourself with a head of beautiful broccoli!

Ingredients:

• 2-3 heads of broccoli
• 1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
• 1 lemon juiced
• 1 tspn. whole grain dijon mustard
• S & P
• 1/4 cup EVOO
• 1/2 cup almonds, toasted and chopped
• 1/3 cup dried tart cherries (unsweetened)

Directions:

1. Chop broccoli into small, bite-sized pieces. I lightly steamed mine and that was a mistake. Just leave it raw.
2. In a small bowl, add the chopped onion to the lemon juice and let it sit for 5 minutes or so. This is a great time to roast and chop the almonds.
3. Whisk the mustard into the lemon juice, season with S & P and slowly drizzle in the EVOO until everything comes together.
4. Dress broccoli with dressing, add cherries and just over half of the almonds almonds. Toss together. Finish making the rest of your dinner and allow some time for the flavors to marinate. Serve by sprinkling the remainder of the almonds on top.