Healthy Broccoli Salad Recipe - Kristine's Kitchen (2024)

FAQs

Why does my broccoli salad get watery? ›

Extra water on the broccoli can make for a runny mixture. The same goes for rinsing your broccoli! Make sure you give your broccoli adequate time to dry after rinsing. You get enough moisture from the dressing mixture that any extra water will make your salad too watery.

🥄 How to Make Broccoli Salad

Blanching keeps the broccoli firm but the taste will be a little less “raw” and it also sets the pretty green color. This is an optional step, but I think it's really worth doing. To blanch the florets, bring a large pan of water to a boil. Add the broccoli florets and cook for 1 minute.

A steamer basket will lift your broccoli out of the liquid and off the bottom of the pan, preventing it from becoming soggy.

Fresh broccoli lasts between 3 to 5 days in the fridge when properly stored. “For cut-up broccoli, I would say no more than 4 days for optimal use,” Amidor says. “But it's best to cut from the whole head right before cooking or eating to maintain nutrients.”

How do restaurants make broccoli taste so good? As with everything made by chefs, they have unexpected (read: unhealthy) additions to their meals — mostly butter, oil and heaps of salt. An excellent tip for the perfect broccoli is the blanching step.

Steamed broccoli may be one of the healthiest ways to cook broccoli because it's quick and nutrients and vitamins won't be lost in the cooking water, as can be the case with boiled broccoli. "What a hit with my family. Just the right mixture of garlic and cashews with our favorite side dish, broccoli," says SALSIEPIE.

Whisk together mayonnaise, cider vinegar and honey. Toss salad ingredients with dressing: Combine broccoli florets, almonds, crumbled bacon, chopped onion, and peas in a large serving bowl. Add dressing to the salad and toss to mix well.

If you don't blanch your broccoli, it will turn color and acquire a bitter taste. You can either stick it in boiling water for three minutes to blanch, or steam it for five minutes, whichever you choose.

Broccoli can be prepared in numerous ways, including sautéed, steamed, boiled, or roasted, but it can also be served raw in salads or with dips.

To blanch the broccoli, bring a pan of water to the boil. Have a bowl of iced water ready, along with a tray lined with kitchen paper. Cook the broccoli in the boiling water for 2-3 mins. Remove the broccoli with a slotted spoon and plunge into the bowl of iced water, then leave for another 2-3 mins.

How do you fix a watery salad? ›

If neither more tuna, potatoes, nor eggs solves the problem, it's time to consider mixing in super dry, starchy ingredients. To soak up liquids like a sponge, pantry staples like pasta or even croutons are complete game-changers that will restore a soggy salad.

Fruit, salads and vegetables give off lots of moisture when stored in your crisper bin. For example of you cut a cucumber and place it in the fridge, you may find the end is dried out and you have to cut a slice off the next time you take it out of the fridge before serving.

According to Spina, this comes down to age and bacteria. “Like many plants after harvest, salad greens start to decay,” Spina said. “When they get old, they release more moisture (water) and become slimy.” Bacteria naturally live on veggies.

Store it properly. One way you can guarantee a crunchy, fresh tasting salad is by storing the components correctly. Whether it is lettuce leaves or cucumbers, once the packaging has been opened, make sure to put a sheet of kitchen towel in with them to absorb moisture and stop those leaves from going slimy.