This Roasted Broccoli and Pecan Salad I’m sharing today resulted from my recent “broccoli epiphany” (if those are even possible). For years, I’ve picked broccoli florets out of salads as I don’t do raw broccoli — I’m a fan of neither the flavor nor the texture, it’s what I imagine gnawing on the hedges would taste like. {shudder}
But I happen to love roasted broccoli! Somehow roasting changes the taste to something far less plant-ish and almost sweet. My kids especially like when I roast it to the melt-in-your-mouth “chip” stage — near-burnt and nutty.
So my broccolipiphany…I can use roasted broccoli in cold dishes instead of raw! I had an amazing roasted broccoli salad at Lemonade in Manhattan Beach — their Broccoli, Ricotta and Champagne Vinaigrette salad — and my world was changed. Cold — yet roasted — broccoli is on!
The dressing on this salad is pretty terrific — it’s Greek yogurt-based, really tangy, and loves to cling to the broccoli florets. I adapted the recipe for the dressing from one I found in the new Cabot Creamery cookbook. It was originally paired with a raw broccoli salad, but you’ve got to try it roasted!
- 2 heads broccoli, cut into florets
- ¼ cup olive oil
- Coarse salt and black pepper
- ½ cup pecan halves
- ½ cup plain Greek yogurt (I use nonfat)
- ¼ cup mayonnaise (reduced fat is fine)
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
- Coarse salt and black pepper
- Heat the oven to 400°F.
- Toss the broccoli with the olive oil on a large baking pan, and spread out the florets in a single layer. Season with salt and pepper. Roast the broccoli for 20-25 minutes, until it's tender and slightly charred. Add the pecans to the pan for the last 3 minutes or so (keep an eye on them so they don't burn!). Transfer the broccoli and pecans to a serving bowl and set it aside to cool.
- While the broccoli and pecans are cooling, whisk together the dressing ingredients (this recipe will make more dressing than you'll need -- refrigerate the rest in an airtight container to use on other salads or as a vegetable dip).
- Toss a few tablespoons of the dressing with the broccoli and pecans and serve.
I’m with you on the raw broccoli thing. It’s meh at best. I’m also more in love with cauliflower than broccoli, but a good roasted broccoli pretty much rules. I made a salad with roasted carrots and roasted broccoli over spinach with a cranberry vinaigrette and it was a total gamechanger in the salad dept. I’ll definitely give this one a shot too!
Mmmmm…I’m a big fan of roasted carrots too! Basically, roasting makes most vegetables better I think. 🙂