This salad is probably the most addictive thing I’ve made in a long time and oh how I need it after the Christmas feasting! Big on garlic, to keep those winter bugs in check.

With calcium-rich and hormone-friendly broccoli, which is also great for the liver and gut. Also with protein-packed chickpeas, this is a meat-free meal in itself. Kids love the garlicky pesto sauce and may even win over the most reluctant broccoli eaters!

Almond Pesto Broccoli Salad

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Prep Time 15

Total Time 55

Course Salads

Servings people

Suitable for Special Diet (or adaptable) Dairy-free, Egg-free, Gluten-free, Low-sugar, Nut-free, Vegan, Vegetarian

Ingredients

Pesto

30 g Basil
50 g Parmesan (grated)
1 clove Garlic
30 g Almonds (whole)
60 ml Olive oil

Salad

450 g Broccoli ( cut into bite-sized florets & blanched)
1.5 tsp Red Wine Vinegar
0.5 tsp Salt
100 ml Olive oil
4 cloves Garlic (minced)
60 g Sun-dried tomatoes
400 g Chickpeas (tinned)
30 g Almonds (flaked or whole blanched)

Instructions

Place all the pesto ingredients into a small blender and whiz up.
In a large bowl, mix up the red wine vinegar and salt before adding the blanched broccoli florets.
In a small saucepan heat the oil until it begins to bubble then add the minced garlic and cook for a minute until the garlic begins to brown, then remove from heat. Option here to add a pinch of red chilli flakes if you want some extra kick.
Pour ¾ of the oil over the broccoli, mix and then cover with a tea towel and leave for 30-40 minutes to infuse.
Chop the sun dried tomatoes roughly and drain the chickpeas. If the pesto is looking a little thick you can add the remaining oil in the saucepan to it and whiz it again. If it looks good enough, reserve the oil for the broccoli.
In a dry frying pan, toast the almonds until light brown and fragrant.
After 30-40 minutes, give the broccoli a stir adding the pesto and oil if not already used, coating it all.
Add the sun-dried tomatoes and chickpeas to the bowl, and mix well.
Sprinkle over the toasted almonds and serve.

Notes

For dairy-free, substitute the parmesan for 3 tbsp of nutritional yeast.
For nut-free, substitute almonds for sunflower seeds

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