Broccoli Golden Cauliflower Salad with Fresh Ginger Miso Dressing

Fresh, Bright, Crisp and Easy Broccoli Golden Cauliflower Salad

I so look forward to our Saturday morning farmers market. Especially now when there’s such an abundance of summer produce on display. A week ago Saturday, I came home with the deepest green fresh broccoli and the only golden cauliflower at the market. Within a day or so an email featuring something like thirty-four broccoli salads arrived in my inbox. The next morning, one of those thirty-four recipes was adapted to create a Broccoli Golden Cauliflower Salad with Fresh Ginger Miso Dressing. Such a bright, crisp, delicious and easy salad that I’m sharing it with you today.

Colorful Cauliflower  ♥ ♥  ♥ ♥ ♥  ♥

Last week there was a golden, a purple and even a chartreuse green cauliflower alongside a head of white cauliflower. Though, still having half the golden cauliflower in our fridge, I passed them by. But if they’re at the market again this week, I’ll take home one of each to make a multi-colored Broccoli, Golden, Green, Purple & White Cauliflower Salad and invite friends for lunch.

Although, I was inspired by the golden cauliflower, of course you can prepare Broccoli Golden Cauliflower Salad with just broccoli. Or with any color of cauliflower you find at your local farmers market.

Brighter and Bolder by Blanching

You might have noticed how much brighter and bolder the color of both the broccoli and golden cauliflower became after a gentle cooking.

That’s the result of blanching the broccoli and cauliflower. Blanching is an easy and basic technique that involves briefly boiling a vegetable in lightly salted water. Then, as soon as the vegetable is just tender, you drain it and immediately plunge it into a bowl of lightly salted ice water. When the vegetable is chilled through, drain it and pat it dry.

Voilà, you now know the technique for bright, bold, tender, crisp vegetables perfect for salads, crudités platters and sushi rolls.

Update: purple cauliflower doesn’t hold its color very well.

Broccoli Golden Cauliflower Salad with Fresh Ginger Miso Dressing

Fresh, bright, crisp and oh so easy. And, especially gorgeous with a combination of golden cauliflower and broccoli. It’s also delicious (though perhaps not quite as gorgeous) made with all broccoli or all cauliflower, too. An extra bonus is that the salad remains almost as crisp and flavorful when just made as it is the next day straight from the fridge. So, it’s great for picnics and the buffet table. Vegan and naturally gluten-free.

Inspired by and adapted from a recipe by Melissa Rubel Jacobson.

Serves 2-4                                            Printer-Friendly Recipe
Total time  20 minutes

Ingredients

• 1-pound broccoli
• ½ pound cauliflower
• Sea salt
• 1 tablespoon sesame seeds

Fresh Ginger Miso Dressing

• ¼ cup lite, seasoned rice vinegar
• 2 tablespoons white miso paste
• 1 ½ teaspoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 x 1-inch peeled piece of fresh ginger
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• ¼ teaspoon sea or Himalayan salt

Garnish (optional)

• Thinly-sliced chives or scallions

Instructions

1. Cut the broccoli and/or cauliflower into 1-inch florets. Peel any thick stems and cut them about 1-inch by ¼ inch.
2. Bring a medium saucepan of lightly salted water to a boil over high heat. When boiling, stir in the broccoli and cauliflower florets and stems. Cook until just tender: another 2-3 minutes from when the water returns to the boil. Immediately drain the vegetables. Add them to a large bowl of lightly salted ice water. Add more ice, as necessary, to quickly chill the broccoli and cauliflower. Drain them well and pat them dry, as any water clinging to the vegetables will dilute the dressing.
3. In a small sauté pan over medium heat, lightly toast the sesame seeds. When golden, remove the sesame seeds to a plate and set aside to cool.
4. Prepare the Fresh Ginger Miso Dressing: Use an immersion blender or a regular blender to blend the dressing ingredients together until smooth.
5. Toss the broccoli, cauliflower and toasted sesame seeds with the dressing, adjusting the salt to taste. Let the salad sit 5-10 minutes for the flavors to marry.
6. Garnish or toss Broccoli Golden Cauliflower Salad with thinly sliced chives or scallions just before serving.

Printer-Friendly Recipe.