Apple, Broccoli & Sunflower Seed Salad

Sunday in East Texas was clear and beautiful following a night of showers. Thank heavens. The humidity from the day before had me grumpy and lethargic; my downward dogs were droopy dogs in yoga class.

The shift in weather–and Nick sleeping past 7 am, hurrah!–was merely the start of a great day, the highlight being a birthday party at a friend’s house to celebrate the birthday of one of his close buddies. In addition to bubbles, birthday cake, and rides in a wagon pulled by a bladeless riding lawn mower (I only partook of the former two), I witnessed a first: my husband doing an airbound somersault on Jack’s new trampoline. I was (and remain) speechless and smitten!

I was blissfully oblivious of dinner preparations until we returned home, pooped and famished. Kevin said he would be fine with cheeses, bread and salad–he got the first two in order–and I set to work on an impromptu salad, cobbled together from produce I had on hand and whatever else I could find in the pantry.

I had gone overboard in my purchase of broccoli crowns (on sale! how could I resist 🙂 so into a steamer they went. I am not crazy about raw broccoli, but love it when it is very lightly steamed.

Next, some gala apples (diced) and sunflower seeds. I recently found roasted, unsalted sunflower seeds at the supermarket, so, of course, I bought 3 packages (healthy food hoarder am I). I hate turning on the oven just to toast nuts or seeds, especially in the summer, and I have a tendency of burning seeds and nuts when I attempt to toast them in a skillet. Already roasted? Love it.

I let the broccoli cool (accelerated by placing in the refrigerator for about 10 minutes) and then finished the salad tossing apples, broccoli and seeds with a quick lemon & Dijon mustard dressing. Wow! I don’t know if it was because we were both starving, but this salad had us oohing and ahhing with pleasure (and Kevin was VERY skeptical about broccoli + apples). The salad was equally wonderful today for lunch. Easy, healthy and good, just what summer eating needs to be :)!

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Apple, Broccoli & Sunflower Seed Salad

Yield: 6 servings

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes

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Ingredients

• 3 cups small broccoli florets
• 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 teaspoons maple syrup
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
• 2 large tart-sweet apples (I used Gala), cored and diced
• 1/3 cup roasted unsalted sunflower seeds

Instructions

1. In a large pot fitted with a steamer, steam the broccoli for 3 to 5 minutes until it turns bright green (but is still hard). Rinse under cold water until cool.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together lemon juice, oil, maple syrup, mustard, salt and pepper.
3. In a large bowl, combine cold broccoli, apples and sunflower seeds. Add dressing and gently toss to coat. Serve!

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