Warm Cabbage + Broccolini Salad

Sometimes you just need some veggies but nothing sounds worse than a cold salad (especially in the middle of February). Enter the warm-ish salad. This salad combines cold and cooked (warm) elements that make it feel more like you are having a meal vs. grazing in a field.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb of broccolini

• 1/2 of a green cabbage; cut in 1 inch pieces

• 2 tbsp of olive oil

• 1 cup of quinoa; cooked (follow the instructions on the package or pop it into a rice cooker with the barley)

• 1/2 cup of barley; cooked (follow the instructions on the package or pop it into a rice cooker with the quinoa)

• 1/4 cup of pine nuts; toasted (you can buy them pre-toasted or do it yourself)

• 1/4 cup of basil; julienned

• Mozzarella balls; cut in half if they are the larger ones

Salad dressing ingredients:

• 2 cloves of confit garlic; smashed

• 1/4 cup of grated parmesan

• 1/3 cup of good quality olive oil

• 1 tsp of sweet white vinegar (I use this one)

• Salt & pepper

First, let’s steam up the broccolini by bringing a large pot of salted water to boil. Add in the broccolini and let boil until al dente (about 3 - 4 minutes). Pull the broccolini out of the water and place it on a chopping board to cool down. Once cool, roughly chop it up and add it to a large bowl.

Then sauté the cabbage by heating up the oil in a frying pan and sautéing it until it softens a bit but still has a crunch (about 5 minutes). Removed the cooked cabbage and add it to the bowl with the broccolini.

While the broccolini and cabbage are cooking / resting, make the dressing by combining all the ingredients together in a jar and whisk it all up. Taste it and adjust the seasoning as needed. Set that aside for later.

In the large bowl with the broccolini and cabbage, add in all of the other salad ingredients (quinoa / barley, pine nuts, basil, and mozzarella). Pour in your dressing and toss everything together.

Serve as is or add a protein of your choice!

This salad holds up in the fridge overnight really well (nothing gets soggy), so this could be a great meal prep idea.

Note: Some drained and rinsed chickpeas would also be delicious tossed into this for some added protein.