Issue #208: Chopped Broccoli Salad

I Don’t Even Like Raw Broccoli, Yet I’ve Made this Salad Many Times

I’m not the only one with hundreds of recipes saved on Instagram.

I keep getting ads in my feed for a new app called ReciMe that is supposed to make it super easy to save and categorize recipes from social media and can even generate a shopping list. Despite having little idea of what recipes I have saved, I have no intention of downloading that app.

I have more than 1,000 recipes saved on IG. I’ll never make most of them.

Saving a recipe I see online is a passive form of taking notes, a virtual clipping and copying of the sort I used to do while reading the food sections of newspapers and magazines. I have several large, messy folders of clippings of recipes I have not yet nor will ever make dating as far back as high school.

On Instagram I’m likely to save a recipe for the same dish multiple times. In the last six months I must have saved ten recipes for the Greek orange phyllo custard cake called portokalopita because I have half a package of broken phyllo in my freezer. And as we know, every social media algorithm takes advantage of your behavior by reinforcing it a hundred fold. I’ve yet to make one portokalopita. I plan to try it for a dinner party in a couple of weeks. Whether I look at the recipes I’ve saved to my profile remains to be seen.

Every once in a while, I’m compelled to make one of the recipes I see as soon as it comes into my feed. More often than not I suspect the reason for my quick action is I have a key ingredient on hand. If I make the recipe a second or third time—increasing the chances I’ll remember it exists and making it more likely to become part of my repertoire—I might even write about it in this newsletter.

Chopped broccoli salad topped with crispy fried onions.

Which brings me to this broccoli salad. The fact that I’ve never understood why anyone eats broccoli raw does not help explain why I wanted to make it. I didn’t have any broccoli in my fridge. I wasn’t looking for a salad recipe. But I did have a significant amount of fried shallots in my freezer from a trip to Bangkok several years ago. And jars of my thick, homemade yogurt were stacking up in the fridge. Whatever the reason, I made it. And then I made it again. And again.

Back in February, when I offered to cook the meals for my fellow directors of the Taoist Tai Chi Society of the USA, I prepared this broccoli salad for lunch. Several people commented how delicious it was and two asked for the recipe. As I type this, I’m back at the Society’s headquarters in Dunedin, Florida, for a retreat. I’m overseeing the meals again. I just made a large batch of broccoli salad.

I have Brendan Pang (@brendan_pang), an Australian cook and author with Chinese-Mauritian heritage, to thank for this salad and for the many recipes from his feed I’ve since saved and will probably never make.

Salad Notes

It’s important to chop the broccoli quite small, I believe, so that it doesn’t have that tough, stringy, raw-broccoli texture. Peel the stems aggressively and chop them, too. Similarly deploy your best knife skills and chop everything quite fine, so that each bite has every flavor in it.

Knife work. Chopped broccoli salad for a crowd.

Like most good, home-cooking recipes, this broccoli salad can adapt to a lot of different ingredients. Use roasted sunflower seeds instead of pumpkin, or even chopped toasted cashews or walnuts. Use dried cranberries or cherries, raisins or currants. This week I’m using pomegranate seeds to add a similar sweet-tart flavor.

The fried shallots or onions aren’t essential, but they add both flavor and texture. You can use whichever you like, but I’d encourage to go to any Asian grocery store and buy a big jar—you’ll be surprised how many options there are—and keep it in the freezer.

The toasted, ground cumin is one thing that can’t be changed. It’s not exactly a forward flavor, but I think it’s what many people are reacting to when they say the salad is so delicious. A little ground coriander seed wouldn’t hurt.

The salad can be made in advance and kept for about a week in the fridge. If you do so, leave out the fried onions until you serve it to preserve their crunch.

RECIPE: Chopped Broccoli Salad

Makes 6 to 8 servings

• 1 large head broccoli or a couple of broccoli crowns

• ½ medium red onion, finely chopped

• 3 green onions, chopped

• 1 bunch parsley, minced

• ½ cup pumpkin or sunflower seeds, toasted, or cashews or walnuts, toasted and chopped

• ½ cup dried cranberries or cherries, chopped, or fresh pomegranate seeds

• ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil

• Juice of 1 lemon

• ½ cup plain Greek yogurt, full fat preferred

• 1 tablespoon honey or maple syrup

• 1 teaspoon toasted, ground cumin

• ½ teaspoon kosher salt

• ½ teaspoon ground black pepper

• ⅓ cup fried onions or shallots

With a sharp vegetable peeler, peel the tough outer layer of the broccoli stems. Cut off the peeled stems, dice finely, and place in a large mixing bowl. Cut off any florets on long stems and chop the stems and the florets. Repeat until all of the broccoli is chopped finely and in the bowl.

Add the red onion, green onions, parsley, seeds or nuts, dried cranberries or other fruit, olive oil, lemon juice, yogurt, honey or maple syrup, cumin, salt, and black pepper. If consuming right away, add the fried onions and mix thoroughly. If preparing in advance, stir the fried onions in just before serving. The salad will keep at least a week in the fridge, getting better after a couple of days.