I was looking for a different kind of salad, something not based on lettuce, and I came across this video with three different salads. 

I’ve made the broccoli salad, and I plan to try the roasted radish salad in the near future.

As per usual, my tiny kitchen gave me problems as I tried to assemble all the ingredients for the broccoli salad, and I was asking myself why I had bothered to start it, but jiminy crickets! The results were more than worth all the trouble.

This is probably the most delicious salad I’ve had  in a long, long time. 

The only thing— If I make it again, and I’m sure that I will, I’ll probably cook the broccoli an extra minute, or at least not be in such a hurry to shock it in the ice water, as it was not quite as tender as I like it. Other than that, it was superb.

I had all the ingredients already on hand except for the dried cranberries and the fresh tarragon, and they were easy to find.

As the recipe serves four to six, I covered the leftover salad and put it in the fridge to keep for the next few days.

To paraphrase Carole King, will I still love it tomorrow?

I’ve put the recipe below. Here’s the video.

Ingredients

• 1 cup water
• ¾ teaspoon table salt, plus salt for cooking broccoli
• 1½ pounds broccoli, florets cut into 1-inch pieces, stalks peeled, halved lengthwise, and sliced 1/4 inch thick
• 1 avocado, halved, pitted, and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest, plus 3 tablespoons juice
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• ¼ teaspoon pepper
• ½ cup dried cranberries
• ½ cup sliced almonds, toasted
• 1 shallot, sliced thin
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh tarragon

Instructions

1. Bring water and 1/2 teaspoon salt to boil in large saucepan over high heat. Add broccoli stalks, then place florets on top of stalks so that they sit just above water. Cover and cook until broccoli is bright green and crisp-tender, about 3 minutes. Meanwhile, fill large bowl halfway with ice and water. Drain broccoli well, transfer to ice water, and let sit until just cool, about 2 minutes. Transfer broccoli to triple layer of paper towels and dry well. Dry bowl and set aside.
2. Process avocado, oil, lemon zest and juice, garlic, salt, and pepper in food processor until smooth, about 30 seconds, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
3. Combine broccoli, dressing, cranberries, almonds, shallot, and tarragon in now-empty large bowl until evenly coated. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve.