Friday we hosted our second Dungeons and Dragons night at my place. A friend of mine befriended a Dungeon Master and he's been teaching us how to play. It's super fun and I love getting the boys into something imaginative that doesn't involve screens.
Anyway, our Dungeon Master happens to be vegetarian so when we host I make a few things and he brings a vegetarian dish. The dish he brought this month was a Power Crunch Salad from the deli section of our local grocery store. I fell in love at first bite. It was fantastic!
I knew I immediately I wanted to make my own version as theirs was overly sweet and way overdressed. Using the ingredient list as my guide I set out to recreate it and I think my version came out even better!
This salad is perfect for fall. It's hearty, full of flavor and loaded with the best raw crunchy vegetables. Be warned, however, it makes a LOT. I ran out of room in my largest bowls and ended up having to toss the salad in a stock pot!
Here's what I did...
Power Crunch Salad
Ingredients
- 1 head of cauliflower chopped small ~705g
- ½ head red cabbage shredded ~415g
- 150 g raw kale chopped
- 150 g shredded carrots
- 1 cup roasted pepitas 120g
- ½ cup dried cherries 80g
Dressing
- ¼ cup Sherry vinegar
- ¼ cup Grapeseed Oil
- juice and zest of 1 navel orange
- ⅛ tsp ground cloves
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
- 4 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tbsp coarse-grained mustard
Instructions
- Whisk all the dressing ingredients together. Set aside.1 head of cauliflower chopped small, ½ head red cabbage shredded, 150 g raw kale chopped, 150 g shredded carrots, 1 cup roasted pepitas, ½ cup dried cherries, ¼ cup Sherry vinegar, ¼ cup Grapeseed Oil, juice and zest of 1 navel orange, ⅛ tsp ground cloves, ½ tsp ground cinnamon, ½ tsp kosher salt, ¼ tsp ground nutmeg, 4 tbsp maple syrup, 1 tbsp coarse-grained mustard
- Put all the ingredients in a large bowl and toss with the dressing.
Notes
- The original salad had dried cranberries but I thought cherries would be better. Honestly, either would work just fine.
- I top 2 cups of this salad with a few ounces of grilled chicken to make a complete meal. It's fantastic!
- I listed this as Paleo but you need to buy paleo friendly dried fruit of course.
- The total recipe made 16 cups so I calculated the nutritional information based on 2 cup servings.
This looks delicious! I am also a vegetarian and love to modify your recipes to be meatless! Thanks for sharing!