Broccoli salad is an extremely handy dish that can be made in a countless variety of ways. Here is one of the most trendy items and dressings.
Ingredients:
- The primary element is of course fresh broccoli. 2 heads will do for a standard sized salad. Chop the stem off and cut the flowerets into bite sized pieces.
- Next include a few chopped vegetables. The favorites are carrots, cauliflower, onion, celery etc. Just mix as much as you like until it looks like a good mix.
- A number of people like to add bacon. Fry up 6 to 8 strips until crispy, drain oil and set aside. Disintegrate bacon after it’s cooled and add to salad just before serve.
- Any sort of cheese can be used. It can be crumbled, cubed, shredded, or creamed as part of a dressing. Fruit is frequently added to these salads, generally raisins. Also popular are mandarin orange pieces, cranberries, chopped apple, grapes or any dried fruit.
- Adding sunflower seeds or nuts to the mix gives the salad a little additional crunch. Almonds, walnuts, cashews and hazelnuts are good examples. Try not to chop the nuts too small. Keeping the pieces larger helps the flavor of the nut stand out a little. Toasting the nuts with a little seasoning is an option as well.
If you would rather not chop up any fruit or nuts just add some trail mix to the salad instead.
Dressings:
The average dressing for this salad is a basic vinegar/ mayonnaise /sugar mix:
- 1/4 cup vinegar
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 1/4 cup sugar
Mayonnaise can be mixed with yogurt to lighten it up. Flavored vinegar can be also used or substituted with lemon or lime juice. Artificial sweetener can be used instead of sugar. Moreover, an oil/vinegar dressing can also be used:
- 1/4 cup vinegar
- 1/2 cup salad oil
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/4 cup sugar
The Method: Attach broccoli flowerettes and any other ingredients you are using to your salad bowl. If you are using bacon bits put in them just before serving. Add your dressing, combine and refrigerate 2-4 hours or overnight. Mix salad again previous to serving.
