Healthy Broccoli Crunch Salad

I am in love with broccoli and I'm not afraid to say it.

I have always loved broccoli, but as a young child I think I was more into it being a vehicle for Hidden Valley Ranch than I was into eating it. My mom would always put out veggies and dip before dinner and I never shied away from the stalk of broccoli. After all, dressing grips on to those fibrous bushy parts much better than to a slimy carrot. I don't know what it is recently, but I have been craving broccoli like crazy! Poor me, dealing with an insatiable need for a cancer-preventing vegetable. I know. It is tough. I even struggle to fit the adequate amount of stalks I need into those pesky grocery store plastic produce bags.

I stumbled upon Food Faith Fitness' post for this broccoli salad with apples and sunflower seeds and immediately knew I had to make it. All joking aside, this recipe spoke to me. The delicious apples provide a necessary crispy crunch to the broccoli. Sunflower seeds help give the salad a protein packed punch. Come to think of it, I don't think I have ever cooked with sunflower seeds. I will definitely be using these on my other salads in the future. I opted out of using bacon solely because I didn't have any but I can imagine it would be a great savory, meaty flavor to add to this salad. I swapped it out for parmesan cheese. She uses a creamy dressing with greek yogurt but I tweaked it slightly to be more of a lemon vinaigrette. If you know me, you know I love red onions raw so I was sure to top my salad off with a handful (or two) of diced red onion. The most important part of this salad is also the most annoying. You have to wait. Trust me. Place the salad in the fridge for a bit so that the broccoli can soak up the dressing and the flavors can meld together. If you can't wait so be it, but trust me, it is so much better after it sits for a bit.

4 cups broccoli, stems removed
1/4 cup roasted sunflower seeds
1/2 cup diced red onion
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 large crispy apple (I used Fuji) diced into bite sized pieces
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp honey
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp dijon mustard

Mix broccoli, sunflower seeds, red onion, and parmesan cheese in a large mixing bowl. In a small bowl whisk together olive oil, honey, lemon juice, cider vinegar, and dijon mustard. Pour over the broccoli and toss to combine. Cover in saran wrap and place in the fridge for two hours or overnight.