Vegan Broccoli Salad with Creamy Garlic Dressing

Along with several other goals for 2013, James and I have been trying to make one day a week meat-free.  That was the inspiration for going through a bit of trail and error to come up with what I think is a pretty solid creamy dressing for something that doesn't contain any dairy.

Creamy Garlic Dressing

1 cup raw cashews

1/4 cup water

1 garlic clove

1/2 diced shallot

2 juiced lemons

2 tablespoons agave syrup

1 tablespoon olive oil

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

- Soak the cashews in water for two hours

- Drain off the liquid, reserving 1/4 cup for the dressing

- Combine all ingredients in a high speed blender and mix until well combined and smooth

Vegan Broccoli Salad

1 head of fresh broccoli

2 cups chopped broccoli slaw

1 small red onion

1/4 cup hulled sunflower seeds

1/3 cup raisins 

1 cup creamy garlic dressing

- Clean and trim the broccoli into bite sized pieces

- Slice the onion finely, preferable on a mandolin 

- Combine all ingredients until well coated with dressing

- You can adjust the amount of dressing to suit your taste, one cup should give you a light coating while one and one half to two cups will give a more cole slaw-like consistency.