Escarole and Roasted Broccoli Salad with Tapenade Dressing
on Mar 22, 2017, Updated Jul 24, 2020
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
Escarole salad is a great way to familiarize yourself this this versatile and delicious form of endive. Versatile, healthy and green, you need to try this salad today.
What is this?
This past weekend, Scott and I helped put together a fun little project that we have been discussing for a couple of years now. Teaming up with one of my work colleagues, we formed a Saturday night dinner club.
For our inaugural dinner, we decided to start with four couples and the hosts would prepare the main entrée with each of the other couples bringing an accompanying course. I quickly put my dibs in for the salad course and this Escarole Salad seemed to be a good choice to lend support to the short ribs recipe that the Larry and Margaret were planning on making.
Main ingredients
- Escarole
- Roasted Broccoli
- Lemon Juice
- Garlic
- Parsley
- Marjoram
- Asiago Cheeses
- Kalamata Olives
- Salt and Pepper
My favorite part of this salad is the roasted broccoli. Confession time:
Part 1: I have never roasted broccoli before putting this escarole salad together.
Part 2: I can’t wait to roast broccoli again.
While the roasted broccoli was cooling, fresh out of the oven, our boys were picking it off the baking sheet and popping the warm, crisp vegetables into their mouths. Our boys don’t like broccoli. On that afternoon, our boys discovered a new fondness of broccoli. It’s that good.
The original recipe that I found for this escarole salad calls for anchovies and several egg yolks. Raw egg yolks. Knowing that a member of our dinner group has a fish allergy, I decided to substitute capers for the anchovies. After mixing in the second or third egg yoke, I said to myself, “Wait. A. Minute. What happens if I poison this group of foodie friends with salmonella?”
I asked Scoot to do some last minute research on the use of raw eggs and the associated incidence of salmonella occurring. His results were non-reassuring to say the least (up to 23%) and so down the drain went my first batch of dressing and from somewhere in the depths of my imagination came this version, which I found to be more flavorful and unquestionably safer.
I scraped the egg component of this dressing, all together. In lieu of anchovies (or capers) I used kalamanta olives. The result was a tapenade-flavor of dressing that worked just fine. Most telling, all eight salad plates at the dinner party were eaten clean by the end of the meal. Always a good sign.
- Be sure and taste our Back Olive Tapenade
More easy salads
- Pickled Beet & Goat Cheese Salad
- Keto Chicken Salad
- Avocado Cucumber Salad
- Creamy Dill Cucumber Salad
👨🍳 Tried this Recipe? Please leave a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating in the recipe card below and leave a comment. We love hearing from our readers!
⏩ Stay in touch with us on social media by following us on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, and YouTube!
📬Get our Recipes delivered to your inbox for FREE!
Escarole Salad with Roasted Broccoli Salad and Tapenade Dressing
Ingredients
- 1 cup kalamata olives, pitted
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1 lemon, juiced
- 1 cup olive oil, extra virgin, light
- 1/4 cup parsley leaves, fresh, Italian
- 1 tbsp marjoram, fresh
- 1 tsp salt, kosher. Salt to taste.
- 1 lb broccoli florerts
- 1 head escarole, tender pale green and yellow leaves only, torn into large pieces
- 1/2 cup Asiago cheese, fresh grated
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450° F. In a food processor, blend the olives, garlic, lemon juice, and parsley. With the machine on, add the olive oil and stir in the marjoram and season with salt.
- Using a rimmed baking sheet, toss the broccoli with about 2 tablespoons of oil; spread on baking sheet in a single layer. Season with kosher salt and roast for 18 minutes, until the florets are just tender. Allow to broccoli to cool.
- In a large salad bowl, toss the escarole with the broccoli along with the dressing. Sprinkle with cheese and then serve
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I love those kinds of “potluck” dinners. They are easier to prepare and fun as you never know what will be served. The salad looks not only healthy but also delicious!
I love roasted broccoli, it adds a lovely sweetness to it. This dressing looks amazing too!
Oh we love roasting broccoli in this house! I can’t wait to try this dressing and throw it on top!!
What a great idea to use tapenade as part of a salad dressing! I will try this recipe:)
I’ve always wanted to know what tapenade is…. now I know! This is super interesting….
Escarole is such an underused lettuce — I love how you’ve dressed it up with broccoli here. Very healthy — and it’s something I can actually eat while I’m watching my carbs! Love it!
Roasted broccoli is a dream, and I love how you’ve added so many great flavours to it!
I love the idea of adding roasted broccoli to a salad!