As I have probably already stated ad nauseum, my belief is that for a salad to be satisfying, attention needs to be paid to contrasts in textures, flavor profiles and temperatures. If I hit that trifecta then I have constructed a good meal salad. If I don't, then I most often than not find myself hungry a few hours later, which defeats the point of having tried to eat a healthy meal salad in the first place.
This roasted broccoli salad with curry dressing, while a weird combination of elements at first glance, hit the spot. I plan on making it again and improving further upon it -- I think that it would be stellar with roasted cauliflower and if I pureed the apple along with the dressing to make a thicker one. Stay tuned.
In the meantime:
1/2 head of broccoli, broken into equal sized florets and stem cut into 1/3 inch slices
1/2 small white or yellow onion, peeled and cut into thin half moons
1/2 apple, I used an organic Honeycrisp, cut into batons
1 Tbsp golden raisins
1 Tbsp sunflower seeds
1/2 tsp hot curry powder
2 tsps rice wine vinegar
1 Tbsp olive oil
Salt to taste
Preheat the oven to 450.
Wash and clean the broccoli and place it on a baking tray along with the onion. Drizzle with the olive oil and sprinkle with a bit of salt.
Place in the oven and roast for 25 minutes, stirring up and redistributing the vegetables at the fifteen minute mark. You want tender broccoli with caramelized edges and still a bit of bite.
While the vegetables are roasting, measure your raisins into a bowl and cover them with boiling water. Leave for ten minutes to rehydrate before draining.
Whisk the vinegar and curry in another bowl and add the julienned apple and the raisins to the bowl. Set aside to absorb the curry flavors while the vegetables finish roasting.
When the vegetables are done, remove the tray from the oven and pour the contents of the bowl with the apple and raisins over the top of the broccoli-onion mixture. Toss well to combine.
Transfer to a plate and sprinkle over the sunflower seeds.