Broccoli, Tomato, and Cheese Salad

Cooking method

1. Step 1:

   

   How do you make a bright broccoli, tomato, and cheese salad? Very simple! First, gather the ingredients from the list. You can use fresh or frozen broccoli. You can replace the cherry tomatoes with ordinary firm, ripe tomatoes. Besides these seasonings, you can use your own to taste — a blend of Provençal or Italian herbs, for example. You can use salted or unsalted seeds.

2. Step 2:

   

   Wash and dry the cherry tomatoes and cut them in half. Choose juicy but firm tomatoes. Soft ones don't hold their shape well; as you cut and prepare them they'll fall apart into a shapeless mush and spoil the look of the dish.

3. Step 3:

   

   Wash the broccoli and break it into florets. If you use frozen broccoli, there's no need to thaw it first.

4. Step 4:

   

   Boil the broccoli in salted water for about 10 minutes, until tender. The exact time depends on the size of the florets and the heat.

5. Step 5:

   

   Drain the broccoli in a colander and let the water run off.

6. Step 6:

   

   Now prepare all the ingredients for the dressing. You can replace the brynza with any soft cheese: feta, sirtaki, Adyghe, farmer's cheese, melted cream cheese, and so on. You can replace the sour cream with plain Greek yogurt. The fat content of the sour cream doesn't matter; mine is 15%.

7. Step 7:

   

   Grate the brynza on a medium or fine grater, or crumble it with your hands if its texture allows.

8. Step 8:

   

   Press the garlic through a garlic press or chop it very finely with a knife.

9. Step 9:

   

   In a bowl, combine the sour cream, brynza, and garlic. Mix everything thoroughly until smooth.

10. Step 10:

    

    Arrange the boiled broccoli and cherry tomatoes on a plate. Salt the salad if needed. But since my brynza was quite salty and I used salted seeds, there was no need to add extra salt.

11. Step 11:

    

    Drizzle the salad with the sour cream and cheese dressing and sprinkle it with sunflower seeds. Enjoy!