I have this little food-related fantasy right around lunchtime some days. I thought for about two seconds about whether I should share it with you all, but then I realized, YOU’RE the one reading a food blog, you must be at least as obsessed with food as I am. So I figure you must have plenty of food fantasies of your own. Here’s mine, which may be most recognizable to stay-at-home parents of very small children who end up eating PB&Js for lunch with one hand while holding a baby in the other arm: a drive-through (or delivery!) deli counter, featuring healthy, hearty, fresh, delectable salads. Or, since it’s make-believe anyway, let’s just go ahead and say great salads that magically appear in my refrigerator as soon as I get hungry.
There are a few places near me that feature impressive arrays of pre-made salads, but they’re not always as good as they look. And I want good. So when I can manage to plan in advance, I like to make a great salad for dinner and then stock my fridge with the leftovers for weekday lunches. This is just such a salad. Whether you eat it at your desk or during your baby’s 10-minute nap, I recommend following it with one of those pixie tangerines that are sadly about to disappear until next year. Almost like magic.
This salad is adapted from Heidi Swanson’s Super Natural Every Day. You can play with the proportions, using more ravioli for more of a pasta salad or less for more of a broccoli salad (which I prefer). As for the dressing, we have tried many prepared harissa pastes and currently use the Tunisian brand Les Moulins Mahjoub (it looks like this and I buy mine at The Spanish Table), but if you have another favorite I’d love to hear about it!
Broccoli Salad with Ravioli, Feta, and Lemony Harissa Dressing: Pound a clove of garlic to a paste with 1/4 tsp. salt, then stir in 2 Tb. lemon juice, 2 Tb. olive oil, and 2 Tb. harissa. Cook fresh ravioli (I usually use cheese, but other flavors work as well), adding a lot of chopped broccoli for the last 30 seconds. Drain and toss with a few spoonfuls of the dressing, crumbled feta, toasted pepitas, and a few chopped oil-cured black olives.
Emmy Cooks 
We must be on the same wavelength, I just made a broccoli salad last night to post soon! This looks great, I love feta! (and ravioli and…)
Oh, good! I’m always looking for more good sturdy salads for my imaginary home deli. :)
Looks delicious! Funny I’ve got the same morter and pestle combo!
Do you use yours much? What for? I find that I really only use mine for garlic (and very occasionally for spices), and I could really do the garlic with the side of a knife.
YES! I only use coarse wet sea salt and always have it full of freshly ground salt – I also use it to crush freshly roasted coriander seeds and cumin (must be fresh for raita!) – never thought of it for garlic, that’s smart!!
Ha–we’re definitely all obsessed with food around here! I used to go to the Whole Foods salad bar when this kind of salad craving hit, but that was clearly a problem for multiple reasons. Homemade broccoli-feta-ravioli is clearly a much better idea. :)
That’s another fantasy of mine: a salad bar in my dining room. That I didn’t have to stock or put away. :)
We’re not big broccoli eaters. How do you think this would taste with asparagus?
I think it would be great with asparagus. Or curly kale. And I just looked at the book and Heidi Swanson actually suggests substituting cauliflower or roasted brussels sprouts! So you could probably take this in a lot of different directions. Enjoy!
First, YUM! Second, I, too, have this food fantasy. Though it extends beyond salads to all types of food. Really, I just want to be able to say the food I want out loud and then have it immediately show up on my kitchen table.
~K
That would be so dangerous. I think I would find myself blurting out “chocolate ice cream!” at inappropriate moments. :)
Looks amazing — I love how the ravioli make it something far more substantial.
I love your lead photo! I strongly believe that the more colorful your food is, the better it is for you.
A hearty salad is wonderful for supper, and yours looks amazing!
Love Heidi Swanson’s recipes! (And I’m totally envious of her life.) This looks like a fab version!