Healthy Holiday Salad with Broccoli, Cauliflower & Dried Cranberries ♥ Recipe

A "healthy holiday makeover" of that broccoli salad we all know and love, you know the one from church potlucks, right? the broccoli salad with bacon and raisins and cheddar cheese? My recipe uses tiny florets of fresh broccoli and fresh cauliflower for a little green and white holiday color, then substitutes dried cranberries for raisins. And the dressing? It's my favorite light mayo dressing, thinned with a little buttermilk and brightened with lemon zest. (Weight Watchers, just one point for those still counting points in the "old way" and 2 points for those who count with PointsPlus.)

So the first year that all you vegetable lovers abandoned A Veggie Venture in December, my feelings were a little hurt. What vegetable recipe, I wondered, could compete with fancy appetizers and platters of oh-so-pretty Christmas cookies? Last year, I even implored, Let's Give Salads with Abandon!

But the thing is, even during the holidays -- maybe especially during the holidays -- nothing hits the spot like a plateful, even a spoonful, of healthy vegetables. Here's a salad that takes the summer classic, that broccoli salad with bacon and raisins and cheddar cheese, and gives it a healthy makeover with colors and flavors suitable for a casual holiday supper. (Side Note: How in the world does something with piles of calorie-dense bacon and raisins and cheddar cheese ever get to be called "salad"?! Jeepers!)

PRETTY BOWLS I just love pretty serving bowls and the green glass bowl on a pedestal in the photo has to be one of the prettiest ever, don't you think?! It was rescued from a rustic outdoor garden where my mom once collected "found" things (driftwood, rummage sale pots, even silk flowers) in her artistic fashion. It makes me smile! You'll see it again, no doubt!

WARM WELCOME A big hello! and thank you! to all the new subscribers who signed up for a free e-mail subscription to A Veggie Venture over Thanksgiving. Yep, this is that "veggie recipe website" -- the one that's 100% vegetables and mostly vegetarian and often vegan. During December, I post new recipes on occasion but just wait until the new year, THEN you'll see lots of vegetable inspiration from here, promise!

EAT VEGETABLES IN SEASON: THIS WEEK, 2005 - 2010
Acorn Squash Roasted Face Down Acorn Squash with Mustard & Honey (< this week's favorite!) Steak & Tomatoes Secret-Ingredient Cookies with Pecans Secrets of a Long Life Curried Cauliflower Marinated Vegetable Salad Weight Watchers Pumpkin Smoothie & Weight Watchers Mocha Smoothie How Not to Buy Acorn Squash (Guest Essay) Book Club Books - My Reading Group's Book List Surprise Weight Watchers Truffles How to Cut, Peel & Cube a Butternut Squash and Keep All Ten Fingers

KITCHEN PARADE, LAST WEEK Cranberry Orange Relish with Fresh Ginger

ST LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, LAST WEEK Nonna Fresta's Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup from Pasta House

RECIPE for HEALTHY HOLIDAY SALAD with BROCCOLI, CAULIFLOWER & DRIED CRANBERRIES

Hands-on time: 15 minutes
Time to table: 15 minutes
Makes 5-1/2 cups

DRESSING
1/4 cup (55g) low-fat mayonnaise (I'm a Hellman's girl all the way!)
1/4 cup (70g) buttermilk
Zest of half a lemon
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon sugar

SALAD
1/2 pound broccoli (about 3 broccoli crowns), just the tops, cut into small florets (see ALANNA's TIPS)
1/2 pound cauliflower (about 3 large sections or 1/3 a head), just the tops, cut into small florets
1/4 cup (40g) red onion, diced very small
1/3 cup (50g) dried cranberries, chopped a bit for easier distribution (save a few aside for garnish)
1/3 cup (45g) toasted sunflower seeds (ditto)

GARNISH
Cranberries & sunflower seeds

DRESSING Whisk dressing ingredients in a large bowl.

SALAD Prep the salad ingredients and drop into the dressing bowl. Stir very well, you really want the dressing to be able to get into the nooks and crannies of the florets.

SERVE Refrigerate until ready to serve but best served same day. Just before serving, top with a few dried cranberries and sunflower seeds. Serve and enjoy!

TO MAKE AHEAD Mix the dressing, prep the vegetables but keep separate. Just before serving, stir together.

ALANNA's TIPS & KITCHEN NOTES
One batch, I steamed the broccoli and cauliflower florets for five minutes, hoping to remove just a touch of the rawness. But the cooking made the mixture into something less salad-like. Another technique might be to blanch the florets briefly in boiling (and well-salted) water. That said, I couldn't get enough of this salad when the broccoli and cauliflower were raw. Maybe I should just stick with that!
I provided weight information for the dressing so that you can just scoop the ingredients into a big bowl, no need to use and wash measuring cups!

TODAY'S VEGETABLE RECIPE INSPIRATION Many thanks to my friend Mary, who served this salad at our book club last month and who along with friendship, provides so much recipe inspiration! Just search on "my friend Mary" and you'll see!

NUTRITION ESTIMATE Per Half Cup: 71 Calories; 3g Tot Fat; 0g Sat Fat; 1mg Cholesterol; 24mg Sodium; 10g Carb; 2g Fiber; 6g Sugar; 2g Protein; Weight Watchers Old Points 1, PointsPlus 2

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MORE RECIPES for HEALTHY WINTER SALADS
~ Healthy Red & Green Green-Bean Salad ~
~ Last-Minute Festive Celery & Cauliflower Salad ~
~ Red & Green Warm Spinach Salad ~
~ more broccoli recipes ~
~ more cauliflower recipes ~
from A Veggie Venture

~ Festive Holiday Salad ~
~ Apple Yogurt Salad ~
~ Mexican Fruit Salad with Winter Fruits ~
~ more salad recipes ~
from Kitchen Parade, my food column

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A Veggie Venture is home of 'veggie evangelist' Alanna Kellogg and the
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