Curry Chicken Broccoli Slaw {Paleo, Dairy Free, Gluten Free}

Curry chicken broccoli slaw is a great one-dish meal. A cashew curry dressing brings robust flavor to the salad, and chicken brings the protein. This recipe is paleo, dairy free, and gluten free.

I came home from my last trip not feeling particularly ambitious in the kitchen.

I had gone to the farmer's market when I returned and bought some of the usual suspects, including broccoli. I got A LOT of broccoli since that's not something I had eaten in 3 weeks. From that hunger came this recipe for curry chicken broccoli slaw.

Curry chicken broccoli slaw are not words I've ever put in the same sentence before. I'm not even sure if broccoli slaw is entirely accurate, but I'm also not sure that it isn't.

I made a vegan curry broccoli salad a little while back. I fell in love with the curry dressing and found myself craving the sauce when I got home.

The only thing I don't love about a broccoli salad is when I get big bites of broccoli. It's really about the cashew curry sauce, so I want to maximize the sauce to veg ratio. 

Breaking down the broccoli in a food processor makes every bite easy with just the right amount of sauce.

And since broccoli can be difficult to digest in general, I like lightly steaming it.

Cutting the broccoli into small pieces is even more helpful for effortless digestion.

Since I was not at full energy when returning from my trip, I decided to throw in some chicken to the curry broccoli slaw to make it an easy one-dish recipe.

Vegan friends can stick with my straight-up broccoli salad, but feel free to process the broccoli into smaller bite-size pieces.

Curry Chicken Broccoli Slaw
{Paleo, Dairy Free, Gluten Free, Mayo Free}

Makes about 4 servings

Ingredients

• 1 pound organic chicken, cooked and chopped into small cubes

• 2 large heads of broccoli (about 4 cups processed)

• 3/4 cup raw cashews, soaked overnight in water

• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

• 1 garlic clove

• 1 tablespoon maple syrup or honey (or other sweetener of your choice)

• 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard

• 1 teaspoon curry seasoning

• 2/3 cup of water

Instructions

1. Trim the heavy stalks of the broccoli and discard. Chop the broccoli into smaller pieces.

2. Place a large pot with a few inches of water over high heat. Once boiling, place a colander on top and add the broccoli to the colander. Cover the colander with a large lid. Allow the broccoli to steam for 3-5 minutes. Cook until the raw bite is gone, but don't cook until tender or mushy. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

3. Once the broccoli is cool, add to the food processor. Quickly blend to break down the broccoli, but don't overprocess into a liquid or paste.

4. Drain and rinse the cashews after they soak in water overnight. Place in a food processor or high speed blender, and add the remaining dressing ingredients, taking care to slowly add the water. Adjust the water more or less until it reaches your ideal consistency. It should be fluid enough to pour over your salad, but thick enough to stick to the florets.

5. Place the broccoli florets in a bowl with the cooked, cubed chicken and add enough dressing so it coats the broccoli and chicken. You won't need all of the sauce.

6. If you eat the broccoli slaw left over a few days, pour some curry sauce on just before eating.

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