This allergy-friendly creamy broccoli salad recipe is so tasty that no one will be able to tell that it’s vegan, egg-free, dairy-free, soy-free, nut-free, pepper-free, and gluten-free. Make it vegan friendly or add turkey bacon to punch up the flavor, and you can even chop the broccoli smaller to disguise it from picky eaters. It’s the perfect make-ahead and take dish for everyone to enjoy at picnics or pot-lucks because it’s celiac and allergy-friendly, and has no egg or dairy to trigger food poisoning… because who would want to be responsible for that!

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Ingredients:

1½ pounds fresh broccoli tops (blanched for color & health)

1⅓ cup golden raisins (or purple raisins, or craisins)

1 cup diced leeks (or spring onions, shallots, red onion)

¾ cup sunflower seeds / kernels (raw or toasted)

½ of my prepared Creamy Salad Dressing Recipe (For Green Salad, Broccoli Salad, Macaroni Salad) Gluten-Free, Vegan, Egg-Free, Dairy-Free, Soy-Free, Nut-Free, Pepper-Free (Click here to see it!)

* Optional: ⅓ pound chopped turkey bacon (or vegan bacon, bacon bits, regular bacon)

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Instructions:

Gather and wash your ingredients then dice the leeks. Blanch the broccoli tops in boiling water for a few seconds… or quickly microwave them, I won’t tell. Chop the broccoli into smaller pieces to get your picky eaters to devour their veggies… but you might just want to call it “creamy salad”! (Bagged broccoli tops are an easy shortcut. I used half of a 3 pound bag from Costco.)

If you’re using bacon… bake, grill, or pan fry it, and then chop it up. (It’s easy to split a recipe into two bowls… one for the vegans, and one for those who think no meal is complete without meat!)

Prepare a ½ portion of my Creamy Salad Dressing Recipe (For Green Salad, Broccoli Salad, Macaroni Salad) for this broccoli salad. (For a larger crowd, use a whole recipe of dressing with a double recipe of the broccoli salad.)

Mix everything together, and refrigerate until ready to consume. (This is such a great make-ahead and take dish.)

Here is the broccoli salad in its vegan form… no bacon!

This is the omnivore’s broccoli salad… bacon, bacon, bacon, and more bacon!

Make both my macaroni and broccoli salads using just one recipe of my creamy dressing. Pair them with a baked chicken breast for a complete meal.

Make the broccoli and macaroni salads the day before a gathering for even greater flavor as the ingredients have had time to meld… and so you can indulge in more sleep the next morning.

Take any of my allergy-friendly salads to picnics and pot-lucks, and be assured that no one will go home sick by your hand. (Egg-based mayo + outdoors = food poisoning threat… so not fun for anyone.)

So just keep calm and picnic on!

Faithfully Yours,

Leigh