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.

Blanching vegetables is a quick cooking method that retains nutrients. A quick blanch in boiling water also softens the broccoli just a bit, and brightens the green color. While I personally love raw broccoli salads, I know some do not. Blanched broccoli still has a crunchy snap, just a bit softer.

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.”

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 broccoli, start by bringing a large pot of water to a boil. Once boiling, submerge chopped broccoli florets into the pot. It does not take long to blanch broccoli – only about 30-60 seconds, so keep an eye out for when the color changes from dull green to bright green.

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.

Dressing, more specifically the acid in dressing, makes greens wilt in a hurry. The vinegar or citrus juice you used in your dressing breaks down the cell structure of the leaves, releasing water trapped in the greens. Which is why your 18-hour-old leftover salad is all wet and deflated.

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.

Dress Before You Eat

Acids will break down the structure of vegetables; sugar and salt are osmotic agents and will draw out the water inside the vegetables. Water-rich vegetables, like cucumbers and tomatoes, will release a lot of water and make a soggy salad.

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.