Vegan Apple Broccoli Salad

Ingredients:

For the Salad:

• 4 cups of Smith’s Farm broccoli cut up and shredded (about 2 medium heads)
• 3 apples of your choice, diced right before you add them to the salad, I used Gala
• 1/4 cup onion red, diced
• 1/2 cup raisins
  
• 1/2 cup sunflower seeds shelled

For the Dressing:

• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
  
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup you could use up to 2 tablespoons
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
  
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Directions:

To prepare the salad:

1. Wash broccoli under running water.  Cut the florets from the stalks and set the stalks aside.
2. Cut the florets into very small pieces. See the photo for a visual. Place in a large bowl.
3. Cut the hard outer skin off of the stems to get down to the tender inside. Discard the outer peelings.
4. Cut the tender inside stems into matchsticks. Or if you have a mandolin that would work well too. If your food processor has an attachment that will cut the stems into long strips (not grated) then that would work also. Scissors work too. The idea is to have very small sticks of raw broccoli stems. They will hold their shape.
5. Add to the large bowl along with the florets.  Add the apples, red onion, raisins and sunflower seeds.

To make the dressing:

1. In a medium bowl whisk together all of the dressing ingredients.
2. Add the dressing to the salad and toss.  Chill until ready to serve.

Thank you to Vegan in The Freezer for this recipe!