Becoming a Weed User! Cooking with wild plants from the Neantog Kitchen – Silverweed & Broccoli Salad

Vegan Friendly Silverweed & Broccoli Salad with Cashew Dressing

By Gaby Wieland

Following on from our ‘Becoming a Weed User’ article from Hans Wieland, in which he talks about all the great uses for those pesky plants taking over our gardens, we share another of Gaby’s great recipes. 

This salad is super high in Vitamin C and just delicious. And it’s so easy to make!

Ingredients

• 1-2 heads broccoli (or mix of broccoli and cauliflower)
• 1 small red onion chopped finely

Dressing – Raw cashew mayonnaise

• 130g Cashews (soaked for a couple of hours, rinsed and drained)
• 2 tbsp Lemon juice
• Pinch of Sea salt
• 1 tbsp spring onions, chopped
• 125ml water
• 1 tsp honey or agave syrup
• 1 tsp cider vinegar
• A pinch or two of cayenne pepper
• Bunch of Silverweed herb, chopped finely or herbs of your choice like Dill, Lemon Balm , Basil or Thyme

Dressing Directions

1. Blend all ingredients besides the silverweed or herbs of your choice in a high speed blender until smooth.
2. Next, add the silverweed or herbs of your choice and blend very briefly.

Directions:

1. Cut up broccoli florets (or/and cauliflower) into bite-sized pieces, leaving just a little stem.
2. Add chopped red onion and cashew mayo and mix well.
3. Either serve immediately or cover, and marinate for a couple of hours in the fridge. Decorate with edible flowers like nasturtiums, calendula or heartsease or a couple of rose pedals and some red onion rings just before serving. Enjoy!

Note:  This is just a basic recipe. You can also add finely sliced celery, olives, sunflower or pumpkin seeds or any other ingredients of your choice.

© Gaby Wieland – author of “Neantog Cookbook-Gaby’s Favourite Recipes”