Warm Vegetable Salad with Sesame-Maple Dressing

I'm often wary of making my own salad dressings because most of the ones I see call for so much oil! I know that oil is a good fat but still, there's so much of it. Anyway, those thoughts didn't stop me from trying this yummy warm vegetable salad. I was attracted by the sesame maple dressing and it didn't disappoint. Very tasty! It was really good tossed with a mix of vegetables. It's supposed to be served warm but I thought it was good cold too. And of course feel free to experiment with your favourite vegetables.

Here's Abby, helping me blog. I was trying to type up a recipe and she came and flopped on me. Made it kind of hard to type but how could I resist her?

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Bulghur Grape Salad
French Barley Salad
Santa Fe Pasta Salad
Caribbean Roasted Vegetables

Warm Vegetable Salad with Sesame-Maple Dressing
Adapted from Rebar: Modern Food Cookbook

My modifications were to use pecans instead of cashews and to omit the 1/2 bunch spinach. Instead of spinach you can use whatever salad greens you have on hand. Toss the greens with some of the dressing, then use the rest on the other vegetables and put the vegetables on top of the salad.

Dressing
(yields 1 cup)

2 tsp Dijon mustard
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbsp maple syrup
2 tbsp sesame oil
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
1/4 tsp red chile flakes
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup vegetable oil

Salad
2 cups broccoli florets
2 cups cauliflower florets
1 small zucchini
2 medium carrots
1 small red pepper
1/4 cup pecans, chopped

1. Start by making the dressing. Place all of the ingredients, except oil, in a bowl or food processor. Whisk or blend to combine. SLowly drizzle in the oil in a thin, steady stream while whisking or blending. Season to taste and transfer to a small pot. Heat the dressing gently over low heat while you prepare and steam the vegetables. Keep the dressing warm.

2. Slice the zucchini into 1/2" thick half-moon slices. Slice the carrots into diagonal 1/4" coins. Cut the pepper into 1/2" squares.

3. Set a steamer basket over a pot of boiling water. Add the carrots and cauliflower, cover and steam for 3 minutes. Add the broccoli, zucchini and pepper and steam until the vegetables are just tender.

4. To serve, toss the vegetables with enough dressing to liberally coat. (Ashley note: I just used all of it.) Garnish with chopped pecans.