Sunflower Microgreen Crunch Salad
Nutty sunflower shoots are sturdy enough to be the salad itself, not just something scattered on top of one.
- Prep
- 10 min
- Cook
- 0 min
- Total
- 10 min
- Serves
- 2
- Finish with
- Sunflower
Sunflower shoots have thick stems and real crunch, so they hold a dressing without wilting the way lettuce does.
Dress them right before serving — five minutes early and you lose the texture you came for.
Sunflower Microgreen Crunch Salad
Serves 2 · 10 minutes · Salads
Ingredients
- 4 oz — sunflower microgreens
- 1 — crisp apple, julienned
- ¼ cup — toasted sunflower seeds
- 2 oz — aged cheddar, shaved
- 2 tbsp — olive oil
- 1 tbsp — apple cider vinegar
- 1 tsp — whole grain mustard
- 1 tsp — honey
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- Make the vinaigrette
Whisk the oil, vinegar, mustard and honey with a pinch of salt until it thickens slightly.
- Prep the crunch
Julienne the apple and shave the cheddar. Toast the seeds in a dry pan for 3 minutes if they aren't already.
- Toss
Put the sunflower shoots in a wide bowl, add the apple, and dress lightly — you want them coated, not soaked.
- Finish
Scatter the seeds and cheddar over the top. Season and serve within five minutes.
What the microgreens are doing here.
Structural greens
Thick stems mean sunflower shoots behave more like a vegetable than a garnish.
Nutty by nature
They carry the same character as the seed they come from, which is why they pair with sharp cheese.
Nothing lost
A raw salad keeps every heat-sensitive nutrient intact.
Variations and pairings
Add pear
Swap the apple for firm pear and use blue cheese instead of cheddar.
Make it a meal
Add a soft-boiled egg or leftover roast chicken.
Vegan version
Drop the cheddar, add avocado and a spoon of nutritional yeast.
Different green
Pea shoots work here too, but dress even more lightly.
- Sparkling water with lemon
- Dry cider
- Crusty sourdough
- Roast chicken
More microgreen recipes
This recipe is only as good as the greens on top.
We grow to order and hand-deliver across Broward within a day of harvest — never shipped, never warehoused.
Order fresh microgreens