Cruciferous Carrot Salad

Nutritional findings can be very conflicting and confusing and if you’re trying to eat healthier it can get a bit disheartening. Very simply, the most universal rule is to just eat a variety of foods, especially plant foods, in as close to their natural state as possible. Do this as often as possible, and you will probably be doing quite well. Salads with a range of different, colourful raw vegetables can be a great source of nutrients that can be eaten on their own or as a supplement to your regular meals. I find that salads can be very enjoyable when they have a combination of ingredients varying in textures, colours and flavours. I don’t really love broccoli even though I know it is so healthy, but when I combine it with cauliflower, carrots, some kind of onion and seeds or nuts along with fruit for natural sweetness, I happily eat it in abundance.  I like using cruciferous vegetables as the base of big salads that I intend to eat over the course of a few days. They stay sturdy, instead of getting soggy like greens can. Using a sweet vinaigrette balances out their strong vegetables flavours, plus the vinaigrette fits into all the little ridges in their florets, distributing itself nicely. The longer the vegetables have to marinate the better the salad gets, so having leftovers throughout the week doesn’t feel too mundane.I used a few different cruciferous vegetables (purple and white cauliflower, broccoli and romanesco) to get some different colours and some slightly different flavours and textures but all or one work just as well according to what’s in your crisper or easily available.  Green onions add a lot of flavour without being too sharp and sesame seeds add in a nice crunch.Carrots add in a lot of bulk to the salad as well as some natural sweetness. I used yellow and purple ones but just as with the other vegetables, whatever you have available will work well. Raisins or grapes are a common accompaniment to salads heavy in broccoli and cauliflower, and for good reason. They have a nice soft, almost gooey texture and lots of sweetness in a small package. I used a combination of different dried fruits (cherries, cranberries, blueberries and golden berries) because that’s what I had on hand but any kind you like will do the job. Cutting them extra small helps distribute them evenly so that you can use less overall but still get some in every bite. Making the vinaigrette straight in the salad bowl saves a dish and gets the salad marinating straight away.