As I’m looking at pictures of my lovely Festive Broccoli
Salad, thinking about how pretty it is I’m realizing I have a preference for
green with white and red.
The green I knew, I love to wear green, I love to decorate
with green, I love green in nature.
As I look around my kitchen it’s mostly white, with quite a
bit of green and with red accents.
In my garden I love lots of greenery, with pops of red
flowers, and I learned that white flowers can be seen at night so I have some
of those too.
I know that there are those who think the red, white and
green color scheme is too common for Christmas, but I loooove it above all
other color schemes!
This pretty salad does look rather Christmassy with its
green broccoli trees, little ruby red pomegranate jewels, and walnuts that I
could have opened with my Christmas Nutcracker…but I didn’t, I opened the bag
of nuts instead because I’m lazy like that.
While Festive Broccoli Salad does look like traditional
Christmas, I actually served it for Thanksgiving; it would also be great for
New Year’s or any holiday party. At
times of the year when there are no pomegranates (or you just don’t feel like
removing all those seeds) dried cranberries would be really great too!
Here’s how you make this pretty dish!
Drain the broccoli and plunge it straight into a large bowl of ice water, this will stop the cooking process leaving you with broccoli that is bright green and still crisp. |
Once the broccoli is completely cooled, drain it and allow it to sit in the colander for a good while so that all the water drains out.
Next make the dressing.
Grate some fresh ginger and whisk that in too.
Ginger can be a strong flavor so use 1/2 to 1 1/2 tsp. depending
on how much you like.
|
Whisk the dressing until it's smooth, and then season with salt and pepper to taste; refrigerate until you're ready to assemble. |
To remove the pomegranate seeds cut the top and bottom off, and score just the skin in quarters. |
Now don an apron just in case of squirtage, cuz the juice will stain.
Get a big bowl of water and gently break the pomegranate
into quarters, using the scored lines as a guide.
|
Using your finger gently pull the pith away and pry the
seeds apart.
The pith will float and the seeds with sink to the bottom of
the bowl.
|
Looks at those lovey ruby red jewels! |
Toast some walnut or pecan halves to make them yummier.
You can use a dry skillet, but I already had my oven on, so
I roasted them at 400 degrees for 7 minutes.
|
Slice up 3 scallions for a mild onion flavor. |
FESTIVE BROCCOLI
SALAD
Serves 4 to 6
For the Broccoli Salad
1 bunch Broccoli, cut into bite sized pieces (1 bunch
of broccoli will yield about 6 cups)
3 Scallions,
thinly sliced
2/3 cup Walnuts halves
2/3 cup Pomegranate seeds
1 recipe Creamy Ginger Dressing (recipe follows)
1.
This step is optional; it takes the rawness from the broccoli with out cooking the broccoli! Blanch the broccoli in a large pot of boiling
salted water for about 45 seconds. Drain
the broccoli and immediately plunge it into a large bowl of ice water that is
standing by. When the broccoli is
completely cooled drain it really well.
2.
Toast the walnuts either in a hot dry skillet or
on a sheet pan in a 400 degree oven for about 7 minutes.
3.
Reserve about 2 tablespoons each of the walnuts and pomegranate seeds for garnish. Combine the remaining ingredients in a large bowl, tossing to coat; but add only about two thirds of the dressing to start, give it a taste, and add more
dressing if you like. Sprinkle the reserved walnuts and pomegranate seeds over the top. Store in the
refrigerator.
For the Creamy Ginger Dressing
½ cup Mayonnaise
½ cup Greek yogurt
¼ cup Apple cider
3 Tbsp. Maple syrup
3 Tbsp. Walnut or Canola oil
2 Tbsp. Apple cider vinegar
½ to 1 1/2 tsp. Fresh grated ginger
Salt
and Pepper to taste
1.
In a medium bowl whisk together all of the
ingredients, add only as much ginger as you like.
2.
Store in the refrigerator until ready to use.
Note: When pomegranates are not in season, 1/2 cup of dried cranberries can be used instead!
You may also like:
Broccoli Cheese and Rice Casserole |
Gourmet Caramel Apples |
Pumpkin Cheese Cake Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars |
Broccoli Cashew Stirfry |
Farfalle Pasta with Marinated Vegetables |
This recipe was shared at:
The Weekend Potluck

this salad is indeed very festive...got hooked to every single ingredient listed...they will make such a scrumptious salad,thanks for sharing :-)
ReplyDeleteI love a good broccoli salad. The addition of pomegranate makes this salad pop. Pinned!
ReplyDeleteThanks Julie!
DeleteOoohhh I love this salad but I never though to added Pomegranates to it! YUM!
ReplyDelete