Meatless Monday -Broccoli Slaw with Cranberries and Toasted Almonds

I am at my house in Maine for the month of July. My Maine kitchen is full of many cooks as friends from around the country show up to visit beautiful Maine. Some nights we are positively bursting at the seams, even the bunkroom is full to the rafters. One night such as that, I was lucky enough to have our friend, Evan Kendall, who is a student at New England Culinary Institute and working towards a BA in Culinary Arts, here for a visit. We all clamored for him to make his signature dish, Broccoli Slaw. This lovely raw broccoli salad is a dish I have had the pleasure of enjoying the last couple of summers in Maine. It features sliced broccoli, tossed together with cranberries, toasted almonds and red onion. The creamy buttermilk dressing pulls all the flavors together. This salad is delicious and good for you! He originally got this recipe from Smitten Kitchen and has made a few small changes. As happens with really good recipes, they get passed down again and again. Yay, power to my fellow bloggers for making food better everywhere!

TIPS: This recipe would be easy to make vegan by substituting vegan milk and mayonaise products.

Photo Credit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Huts_of_the_White_Mountains

It was just my birthday weekend and I spent it hiking in the White Mountains. The White Mountains, known as the most rugged mountains in New England, are beautiful but not for sissies! We hiked to the Greenleaf Hut which is perched at the treeline on Mount Lafayette on the Appalachian Trail. The Greenleaf Hut, which is part of the AMC (Appalachian Mountain Club) Hut Network, offers bunk accommodations and a delicious hot dinner and hearty breakfast before hikers continue on their way. We followed ‘Franconia Loop’, a challenging almost 10 mile trail that climbs Mount Lafayette (5240′), Mount Lincoln (5089′) and Little Haystack (4780′) on Franconia Ridge and winds around seven waterfalls on the Falling Waters Trail. It was a wonderful and challenging trip – off my bucket list. My legs are still sore, just saying…

Anyway, I was nowhere near my kitchen for the last few days, making this is a great time to host a guest chef for your Meatless Monday. So without further ado…

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen, who “Adapted a little bit from family, a little bit from Apartment Therapy“

BROCCOLI SLAW COMPLIMENTS OF GUEST CHEF, EVAN KENDALL

Broccoli Slaw

Servings: 6 cups
Time: 20 minutes
Difficulty: easy
Print

20150703_205110

2 heads of broccoli
1/2 cup thinly sliced almonds, toasted
1/3 cup dried cranberries
1/2 small red onion, finely chopped

Buttermilk Dressing

1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup buttermilk, or plain milk
3-4 tablespoons cider vinegar, to taste, use less with buttermilk
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
1 tablespoon sugar
3 tablespoons finely chopped shallot (or, you could just use a little extra red onion to simplify it)
freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Prepare the broccoli by cutting it into large chunks and then slicing them thinly. This can be done by hand with a knife, in a food processor with the slicing attachment, or on a mandoline. I really enjoy the stems of broccoli, give them a try if you don’t usually. The outer skin is tough and can be unappealing, so try peeling it off and slice thinly. In a large bowl, toss with the dried cranberries, toasted almond. You can include the red onion as well, or combine that in the dressing to temper the onion flavor.

In a small-medium bowl, whisk together the ingredients for the dressing. Season with a pinch of salt and ground pepper. Pour the dressing over the broccoli and other ingredients, and toss to combine. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper, I like to make the pepper stand out.