This is my party salad. I always ask what I can bring to someone’s house and oftentimes people respond: a salad. As a vegetarian, it’s a safe request and probably a comfort to the host—at least I’ll have something to eat! On those occasions, I bring this salad. I’ve also made this salad for Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve. It feels fancy and sophisticated despite having very few ingredients. Oddly enough people can’t seem to figure out what’s in it. I get asked a lot if it has apples (I think people are confused by the cabbage). Sometimes people swear they’ve tasted celery. I love that people can’t figure out what’s in it. I also love that I always, and I mean always, get asked for the recipe. So please, do yourself a favor and make this for your next get together. I promise it will be a hit!
Inspired by…
I first found this salad on the blog Designer Bags and Dirty Diapers. My sister tagged me in a post, and I made it the next day. Thank goodness my sister knows my taste in salads so well! I loved it and over the years have made it countless times. As always, I’ve tweaked it to my liking, but if you head over to her blog, you’ll find that her version is similar to mine. I went back and reread her post before sharing my version of this salad and realized that the author had been inspired herself by recipe from Bon Appetite magazine. So, I was inspired by someone who was inspired by someone else. Thus is the beautiful world of cooking! The biggest change from the original salad is that I’ve left out the anchovies and cut back on the quantity of cabbage and broccoli. I also have tweaked the dressing a bit, using less oil and a bit more mayo. This is really what I love about cooking. You see something, make it, change it, make it again, change it a little bit more and eventually you have your perfect personal version of the original dish.
The dressing
I think two things make this salad. Its crunchiness and the dressing. I really, really, really love this dressing. It goes perfectly with this salad. It is easy to make. While you could of course buy Caesar salad dressing, I truly think you’ll love this salad even more if you make it yourself. I don’t like my salads heavily dressed, but if you feel like yours is too dry, just drizzle it with some additional extra virgin olive oil until you’re satisfied. I recommend dressing the salad at least 10 minutes before serving (if you remember it!). Once you start making your own dressings you might never buy it in the store again. This Whole Grain Mustard Dressing is another favorite homemade dressing. I use on my “regular” salads often.
Get salad-ing!
Everyone loves a good salad and this Broccoli Cabbage Caesar Salad is just that. In fact, I believe it better than good…this is excellent! If you’re looking for more salad ideas, this Asparagus Tomato Salad, Corn Salad and this Tomato Avocado Cilantro Salad are summer favorites. I also love this Shaved Brussel Sprout Salad! A Can Can Salad is a great way to unload some of those non-perishable items you have in the pantry. And if you’re on board with making your own salad dressing, here’s a recipe for a Whole Grain Mustard Dressing. As always, let me know how your Broccoli Cabbage Caesar Salad comes out by leaving a comment below. Enjoy! Buen provecho!
Broccoli Cabbage Caesar Salad
Ingredients
Salad
- 1 medium broccoli head, chopped into bite sized pieces, stems discarded (~3 cups)
- ⅓ head green, savoy or Napa cabbage, core removed, cut into wedges and then thinly sliced (~3 cups)
- ⅓ cup Parmesan cheese, cut into bite sized pieces (I like to cut mine into small rectangles) or shaved Parmesan
- ¼ cup pine nuts
Dressing
- 1 clove of garlic, minced
- juice of 1 lemon
- ⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 3 tbsp mayonnaise
- 2 tbsp whole grain mustard (I use the brand Bookbinder’s or Maille)
- 3 tbsp grated Parmesan or Pecorino Romano cheese
- salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Instructions
- Combine all the salad ingredients in a large bowl. To make the dressing, whisk ingredients together. Taste and adjust. Dress the salad at least 10 minutes before serving and finish with freshly cracked pepper. If you like your salad wetter (I don’t like to over dress my salads), drizzle with some extra virgin olive oil. Leftovers keep well for about a day.
