Broccoli Salad With Garlic and Sesame Recipe (2024)

I've made this over and over. I use 1/4 c olive oil. I have no idea why the recipe calls for 3/4 c, which leaves you with broccoli swimming in oil.

I've made this twice, the first time I didn't have cumin seeds and used a tsp of cumin powder. I liked that much better. I also used less olive oil, but put in an extra TBSP of sesame oil...and I added a finely diced shallot. VERY popular both times :)

I've thrown in fresh tomatoes, left over raw zucchini, cucumber, and had it over leftover quinoa, brown rice and even roasted roots veges...this recipe is a magical in it's ability to make leftovers, tasty.

I accidentally used ground cumin instead of whole cumin as the recipes calls for and it worked just as well.

Ok, so I answered my own question. If you substitute "hours" for "days" in the parenthetical phrase, it all makes sense. I made the dish. It was wonderful. The longer you let it sit out at room temperature the less raw taste it will have. I bought florets and weighed them out to 2 lbs. This was fine with 3/4 cup oil but I did increase the vinegar to 1 1/2 TABLEspoons. If you buy two 1 lb. heads of broccoli and trim the stalks, you will need less oil.

You should buy an inexpensive kitchen scale. They are so much easier to use in cooking and baking than cups. Most recipes are now using weight instead of volume anyway.

1/4 cup olive oil
Tbsp of vinegar
juice of a lemon
doubled cumin seeds, garlic, pepper flakes
Delicious.

I don't mind the slightly raw flavor, but the rest of the family was put off by it, so a brief steam was helpful. Also, if your stalks are thick, peeling them helps the dressing penetrate so the acids cook away the raw taste. My daughter-in-law takes slices it all up on a mandoline or in food processor before adding dressing. The increased surface area gives the dressing more places to sink into, and that also helps to "cook" it a bit.

I made this hot dish. Instead of pouring the dressing over, I added broccoli to the skillet and cooked for one minute or even less. I also added cooked wild rice and it turned out great for a cold night dinner.

for the folks who found that the amount of olive oil was too much: you may not be using enough broccoli. i bought just over 3lbs broccoli with the full stems attached. once i chopped most of the stems off (to get the “heads” noted in the recipe) i had about 2lbs broccoli heads. the amount of olive oil was just right. imo the weight given should include full stems because that’s how broccoli is usually sold.

It would be helpful to me to have a cup measurement for the broccoli since heads vary in size.

I shave the stalk parts attached to the crowns with a peeler, and peel/chop the stems into bite size pieces, which makes them more tender. I always shave the stems for broccolini and broccoli regardless of recipe as it cooks more evenly and quickly.We can tolerate a small amount of chilies if it’s infused, avoiding the skin and seeds. So for this one, I use strained Thai sweet chili sauce, as the sugar helps cut the sharp acidity, and we get a gentle hint of chili flavour. Great every time!

Use 1/2 c oil, double vinegar, cut back on cumin by half.

I made this for picky eaters with just lemon juice, oil and garlic. Marinated overnight. It was wonderful.

It was a little cumin-heavy for my taste, so for the half-size recipe I made, I added very thin slices of red onion, the zest of half a lemon, and a teaspoon of lemon juice. MUCH better! I also toasted two tablespoons of sesame seeds in the pan (and removed them, of course) before I started the oil, garlic, and cumin. Just an extra touch because I had sesame seeds on hand, so why not?

It was a little cumin-heavy for my taste, so for the half-size recipe I made, I added very thin slices of red onion, the zest of half a lemon, and a teaspoon of lemon juice. MUCH better!

The flavors were indeed very assertive and the broccoli ended up too raw for us. Great concept but didn't work for us. We normally really enjoy Melissa Clarks recipes

Saw that someone here recommended using a kitchen scale to measure. That works for small items but with the 2 lbs. of broccoli florets a better way is to use a handled plastic bag and a scale you'd use to weight your suitcase!

Used ground cumin instead of seeds, and added sesame seeds and some hoisin sauce

I was not into this. Even after hours of it sitting you get slightly oily raw broccoli. I could not taste the sesame oil although the cumin and almost raw garlic stench was really strong. I made it as written.

A squeeze of fresh lemon makes this sublime

Bland. Way too much oil. Revved it up with 1Tablespoon cumin powder, not seeds. 6 cloves garlic, 4 Tablespoons red wine vinegar, 1/4 cup sunflower seeds. 4 Tbsp sesame oil. Still bland. Maybe because I par-boiled it first and the oil didn’t allow spices to penetrate broccoli. Will make again with 1/3 cup oil, cumin seeds, no parboiling. Can’t believe it’s getting rave reviews.

Used way less oil, and pre shredded broccoli slaw! Delicious. Also added shredded chicken breast!

1/4 c olive oilAdd

Used 1/4 cup of oil and it was plenty. I’d dial back the salt next time, but was delicious! I used stalks and florets (like my other favorite - Ali Slagle’s Italian broccolis salad - also amazing) it was terrific. Perfect for a bbq side.

I followed the recipe verbatim and really enjoyed the outcome. My wife and kids also really liked it. The cumin seeds provide for random sparks of cuminyness. Scale the amount of garlic, cumin, and vinegar up or down to your own taste. A great finishing touch was a light tableside sprinkle of well aged balsamic vinegar.