So
this past Easter we had a family lunch/dinner at my Sis-in-law Melanie's house,
and she made this awesome salad. We got the recipe from her and as I was
looking it over to add to the site I discovered I had one incredibly similar
already posted from when I took my cooking class back at BYU. Who knew?
I
certainly hadn't been using it lately and I definitely fell in love the version
I had at Easter so I decided to update and kind of mash the two recipes
together, hence all the options for quantities! Seriously though, you can
just eyeball everything and it will still turn out fantastic, it's that great.
Hearty enough to be a meal on it's own with a side of rolls/bread/cornbread or
whatever else you want! The dressing recipe included is the halved proportions.
We found that the original had to much dressing for our taste. So if you like
more dressing with your salad, it can easily be doubled.
INGREDIENTS:
For Salad:
- 1 large head (3-4 cups) of
fresh broccoli, washed and trimmed
- ¼ - ½ cup red onion, finely
diced
- ½ - 1 cup craisins or raisins
Optional (but highly recommended) Mix-Ins:
- 4 - 6 strips of bacon, fried crisp and
crumbled
- ½ - 1 cup shredded cheese (I've used sharp cheddar and Parmesan before, both great)
- 1/4 cup sunflower seeds
- 1/4 cup pepitas
- ½ - 1 cup cashews or chopped pecans or walnuts
- 1 cup low-fat mayonnaise
- 1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar (can substitute w/ regular vinegar if it’s
all you have)
- 2 Tbsp sugar
PREPARATION:
- In small separate bowl, make
salad dressing by combining all ingredients. Refrigerate for at least a
couple of hours, preferably overnight.
- Cut broccoli into small
florets, peel the stem and cut into 1/2" pieces.
- Combine broccoli, onions, craisins,
nuts, bacon, and cheese.
- Pour dressing over salad.
- Refrigerate until ready to
serve and toss before serving
Note: This salad can be made ahead of time and refrigerated for hours, even overnight.
