Summer Broccoli Slaw

  • Prep time:

  • Cook time:

  • Total time:

  • Portion/Yield:

    Serves 6–8 as a side dish or accompaniment

  • Difficulty:

    Easy

When I started cooking many moons ago, the bright lights of America were very attractive. I regularly bought cookbooks by American chefs and authors and subscribed to every American food magazine I could find.

There was one salad I remember that regularly featured in those publications and it was a chopped salad of some description. At the time I could not quite understand the attraction; it looked a bit of a mess in a bowl to me and seemed to lack culinary flair and excitement.

However, the older I get, the more salad I enjoy eating, and funnily enough, I find myself chopping all the salad ingredients, then mixing in some vinaigrette, and it’s just simply delicious! Well, I’ve realised that the attraction of this type of salad is, in fact, the deliciousness of all the ingredients chopped fairly small and simply mixed together. So, here is my tasty take on one of those classic American-style chopped dressed salads, which I hope you’ll enjoy as much as I did.

The beauty about this salad or slaw is that you can make it a few hours in advance before serving (but it’s best eaten on the day of making). Simply store the chopped slaw (without the dressing) in a covered bowl or airtight container in the fridge, then when you are ready to serve, simply mix the slaw with the dressing, tip it into a serving bowl and, hey presto, it’s done! Once dressed, the salad should be served immediately. No fancy garnishes are required either as it’s very attractive just as it is.

I have done away with mixed leaf salads at barbecues as they just get wasted, so this tasty fresh green number has fast become my favourite leaf salad replacement. It’s ideal for al fresco dining and is great served at a barbecue or with grilled meats or fish such as burgers, salmon or chicken or Slow-barbecued Lamb Shoulder.photo of Summer Broccoli Slaw

Ingredients & Method

For the lemon tahini yogurt dressing

  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 2 tablespoons Greek yogurt
  • 1 tablespoon tahini
  • 1 tablespoon cold water
  • sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper

For the broccoli slaw

  • 1 small head of broccoli (about 200g prepared weight), trimmed
  • 1 small fennel bulb (about 100g prepared weight), trimmed
  • 2 spring onions
  • 100g sugar snap peas
  • 3 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

To make the dressing, measure all the ingredients into a small bowl and stir together, seasoning to taste with salt and pepper. Cover and store the dressing in the fridge until needed (see Cook’s Note). Stir the dressing just before use.

For the broccoli slaw, using a sharp knife, roughly chop (or finely chop, if you prefer) the broccoli, fennel, spring onions and sugar snap peas. Place them all in a bowl along with the parsley and mix together. If you are making the salad in advance, then at this stage, cover the bowl (or transfer to an airtight container) and store the undressed slaw mixture in the fridge for 4–6 hours.

When you are ready to serve, lightly season the slaw with salt and pepper, add all of the dressing, toss to mix, then serve immediately.

Cook’s Note

You can make a larger batch of dressing, if you like, then keep the leftover dressing in a covered jar or squeezy bottle in the fridge for up to 5 days. The dressing can be spooned or drizzled over other salads, such as a mixed garden or carrot ribbon salad.