Imagine a bed of crunchy, spring mixed greens, hearty broccoli, and shallots tossed in a velvety avocado pesto dressing. You want to know the good news? You no longer have to imagine that beautiful bowl of goodness because you can make it! This salad is like a refreshing breeze that cools you down on a hot summer day. The flavors soothe your taste buds and the ingredients do wonders for your overall health.
Like most salads, this salad contains a bed of greens with some cucumbers thrown in the mix. The spring mix provides unique textures and flavors to this salad. Spring mixes differ depending on seasonal availability, but they usually contain red leaf lettuce, spinach, baby chard, mizuna, or arugula.Unlike most salads, this recipe calls for some chopped raw broccoli florets. Raw broccoli provides another textural component, but make sure to chop up the broccoli into small pieces. You don’t want giant florets because that won’t be an enjoyable eating experience. The thin apple slices also provide a sweet flavor and crunchy texture!
That last, and potentially most integral component to this recipe, is the avocado pesto dressing. Normally, you’d put a sauce like this on zucchini noodles, not a spring mix salad. That changes today, people! We are breaking the rules and making a pesto a salad dressing. Quite honestly, it’s one of the best culinary decisions we’ve ever done! Let us know how you like it in the comments below.
- Prep Time:15m
- Total Time:15m
- Serves: 4 servings
- Category: Full Body Cleanse Approved, Salads & Dressings, Raw, Vegan, Vegetarian, Gluten-Free
Ingredients
For the Salad
- 6 c spring mixed greens
- 2 Persian cucumbers, thinly sliced
- 1 shallot, thinly sliced
- 1 Granny Smith apple, thinly sliced
- 1/4 c raw pumpkin seeds (optional)
For the Dressing
- 2 c basil
- 1 avocado, pitted and peeled
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/4 c raw pine nuts
- 2 lemons, juiced
- 2 tbsp. nutritional yeast
- 1/4 c water (optional)
Instructions
For the Salad
- Add all of the ingredients to a large bowl and toss gently to combine.
- Set aside while you prepare your salad dressing.
For the Dressing
- Add all of the ingredients to a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. You may need to stop blending, scrape down the sides, and continue blending to fully incorporate the ingredients.
- If the dressing is too thick, add a little more water to thin it out.
- Pour the dressing over the salad and toss well to ensure that all of the ingredients are coated. Serve and enjoy.
