Roasted Broccolini Salad with Smokey Maple Mustard Dressing (vegan)

Recipe from Nikki Vegan

Husband Tested in Alice’s Kitchen

Makes 4 very generous servings

This makes a FANTASTIC salad, good enough to serve to your favorite people.  There are several reasons I think this salad is a winner.  It’s made with healthful ingredients.  It’s vegan.  It’s colorful and, therefore, it looks beautiful on your plate. But, most importantly, it’s flavorful and will make your tastebuds dance. Though I would prefer serving it fresh, it holds up in the fridge overnight if you have any leftovers.  The recipe for the dressing makes quite a lot, much more than you need for the salad, in my opinion. (I really don’t like over dressed salads.) But the dressing can be used for other salads.  In fact, I used the leftover salad dressing to make a great potato salad. (See photo below.) You will need to soak the cashews overnight in order for them to soften enough to blend into a very smooth dressing the next day.  By the way, I love Nikki Vegan’s website and YouTube channel.  Her recipes and how-to videos are a great way to learn how to incorporate a more plant-based diet into your life.

Smokey Maple Mustard Dressing:

1 cup raw cashews, soaked overnight in water, then drained and rinsed

4 Tablespoons Dijon mustard

2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar

2 Tablespoons maple syrup

1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika

2/3 cup water (or more to thin the dressing to your desired consistency)

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Salad:

2 large bunches or 4 small bunches of broccolini 

4 Tablespoons olive oil (I used way less)

2 bunches kale, tough stems removed, leaves torn into bite sized pieces or 1 large bag of baby kale

1 large lemon

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

20 dried apricots, thinly sliced

1/3 cup diced red onion (about 1/2 small red onion)

1/3 cup sliced almonds, toasted

Rinse and drain the soaked cashews.  Place them in a high speed blender along with the rest of the dressing ingredients.  Blend until very smooth.  Add more water, if needed, to the desired consistency.  Taste and season with more salt and pepper, if desired.  Set aside while you. Prepare the salad.

Preheat the oven to 375F.  Chop the broccolini into bite-sized pieces.  Place on a large baking sheet.  Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.l. Roast for 15-20 minutes or until softened and charred around the edges.  

Zest the lemon and set aside the zest.

De-stem the kale, discarding the tough stems, and chop the kale leaves into small pieces.  (If using baby kale, you can skip this step.) Place the kale into a large bowl.  Add the juice of the lemon and a pinch of salt to the kale leaves.  Massage the kale for about 1 minute un til the kale turns bright shiny green and softens slightly.  Next add the onions, apricots, sliced almonds, and warm roasted broccolini to the kale.  Toss with 1/3 of the Smokey Maple Mustard Dressing and divide the salad between four plates.  Drizzle with more dressing, if desired, and sprinkle with the lemon zest and a bit of black pepper.  Serve.

The above photo shows a simple potato salad I made using the leftover Smokey Maple Mustard Dressing.  I just cooked some potatoes and added some celery, onion, peppers, and zucchini (cleaning out the fridge) along with the dressing.  Yum!