Cucumber Broccoli Salad with Added Color

Name: Cucumber Broccoli Salad with Added Color
Prep time: 5 min
Total time: 5 min
Yield: 12 people
Ingredients: 1 pound fresh broccoli (chopped); 15 ounces black soy beans (drained and rinsed); 1 medium cucumber (sliced and quartered); 2 large tomatoes (chopped); 1 medium red onion (chopped); 6 ounces canned pitted black olives (chopped); 16 ounce bottle Italian salad dressing (I used Newman’s Own Olive Oil & Vinegar)

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A colorful low carb cucumber broccoli salad made with a variety of different colored vegetables. It’s a pretty dish to take along to any potluck.

Memorial Day weekend, the unofficial start of summer in New England, is finally here. This is a weekend of traditional outdoor potluck parties and cookouts.

To celebrate the holiday and the warmer weather, I was looking for an easy vegetable salad that could be kept in the refrigerator for a quick snack. To make it easy, I just used a bottle of low carb Italian style dressing.

This is a real flexible cucumber broccoli salad recipe. If there is something you don’t like, it can be left out.

You can also make additions to the salad, like shredded cheese, if desired. The soy beans add some protein, if you don’t like them, you can always substitute with something like pepperoni.

There’s just something inviting about a salad that full of bright colors. It really makes you want to dig in and eat all those healthy veggies.

Although I used a prepared dressing, I prefer making a homemade one. A simple oil and vinegar salad dressing with simple seasonings will do.

My blue cheese vinaigrette dressing would also be a good variation. Just be careful if using a store bought dressing as many contain added sugar and other unhealthy ingredients.

This is a nice crunchy salad and it holds together better than ones made with leafy greens. The leaves tend to wilt when making tossed salads in advanced.

Broccoli also has a lot more nutritional benefits that plain leaf lettuce. Being a member of the cruciferous vegetable family, it is rich in sulfur containing compounds.

The sulfur in cruciferous vegetables has been shown to help with detoxification and cancer prevention. You can see more benefits of consuming cruciferous vegetables at the Dr. Axe website.

Eating a diet rich in plant based foods is really the best way to stay healthy. They provide many antioxidants that protect the body from free radicals.

I believe that food is the best medicine. And, there is a lot of truth to the saying that you are what you eat. So, eat the best food you can afford.

This low carb cucumber broccoli salad is a colorful addition to any potluck or picnic table. It doesn’t even have to be warm outside to enjoy this healthy vegetable salad.

I’ve even served this yummy salad at winter holiday meals. It goes as a side to any main meat dish like prime rib, turkey, or ham.

A few of my other favorite side salads include a summer squash tomato salad and a Greek salad made with zucchini noodles.