Broccoli Salad

With some of my recent blog revisions, I have realized that maybe everything we eat is not interesting to everyone! I got so excited when people started reading the blog that I thought "I need to post everything all the time!" I've realized now that maybe isn't necessary, especially if it's a recipe that may not be exciting (even if I think it is). So I may not keep posting every little thing we make in our kitchen. Or maybe I will. I'm undecided. Anyways, this is a recipe that would make the cut whether or not I continue to post every little thing or not! As it states on the recipe page, if you're not a broccoli fan before eating this, you will be afterwards. For example: Will is not a huge fan of broccoli and especially not if it's of the raw variety. I, however, love any and all broccoli so I was thrilled when I saw the glorious green heads of broccoli shining in the morning sun at the Farmer's Market! I demanded we purchase a head of the beautiful broccoli and found this recipe to make with said broccoli head.


Now because I've always liked broccoli, even as a kid, I knew I would enjoy this recipe. It was easy to make because we happened to have everything on hand except the red onion, which we ended up using for another recipe this week. It only took a few minutes to make (after the bacon was cooked) and voila! We had broccoli salad! When we sat down to eat this, I could see the hesitation on Will's face, but I didn't care too much because I was already halfway through my bowl. This salad is full of different flavor sensations, giving a bit of a salty taste from the bacon and sunflower seeds, combined with a sweetness from the sugar and apple cider vinegar, which is all (almost) overpowered by the fragrant quality of the red onion. However with the almost neutral broccoli taste (primarily in the salad for a "crunch factor" I believe), this salad is well balanced. I recommend it for everyone, broccoli fans or not!

Cooking Notes: The original recipe wasn't clear on what raisins to use, so we used golden raisins. It also called for raw sunflower seeds, but we got the salted and toasted kind. We also had turkey bacon on hand instead of real bacon, and we did not use all 10 slices the recipe calls for. It also did not specify cheese type, so we used Pecorino Romano, since it was the cheapest option this week. The recipe also suggested using either plain yogurt or mayonnaise for the dressing, and we used plain Greek yogurt, which seemed to work really well.


Broccoli Salad (adapted from Simply in Season, serves 6)
3 cups broccoli florets
1 cup golden raisins
~10 slices turkey bacon, fried & crumbled
1/2 cup red onion, diced
1/2 cup salted sunflower seeds
1/2 cup cheese, shredded
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
3/4 cup plain Greek yogurt

Mix broccoli, raisins, bacon, red onion, sunflower seeds, and cheese in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, combine sugar and vinegar, stirring to dissolve. Then stir in the yogurt until it is well blended. Pour over the broccoli mixture and stir everything together before serving!