Heyo, e'rbody! It being Memorial Day, we're spending time as a family and enjoying the freedoms others have fought for. We feel so blessed to live where we do, and pray we don't take it for granted.
We hope you're able to spend some time with family and friends, and maybe get together for a little barbecue or something. Hug your loved ones tight, and make them this stellar broccoli salad, which you can be sure we'll be making for ourselves. It's one of our favorites, and has inspired me to dedicate all 3 of my posts this week to awesome summer salads. Happy Memorial Day!
Here's what you need:
2 crowns of fresh broccoli, cut into small floweretts
1/2 small purple onion - chopped
1 cup grated cheddar cheese (sharp cheddar suggested)
6 strips bacon - cooked until crispy and chopped
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup raisins
Dressing:
3/4 cup mayo
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice
Salt and Pepper to taste
So easy. Put the broccoli, onion, cheese, bacon, sunflower seeds, and raisins in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, mix the dressing ingredients together. Pour the dressing on and stir everything up. That's it. Boom:
Couple things to note, only mix the dressing in about 10 minutes before serving. If you're preparing the salad ahead of time to take to a barbecue, keep the bacon and dressing out of everything else, and just toss it all together a little before it's time to eat. Also, I suggest using freshly-grated cheddar cheese as opposed to pre-grated. But, sometimes the convenience outweighs that little extra bit of quality, so cater to your needs.
This version may seem just like every other version out there. And as far as the ingredients go, yeah, it's pretty typical. But it's not just about what's in a salad - it's also about quantities. We put less purple onion in this version, and the dressing is a little more lemony (which we dig). If you try this and don't care for it, think about why you don't care for it and make adjustments. If the dressing has too much lemon, add mayo until it tastes good to you, then add only as much as you need to the salad (adding more mayo gives you more dressing, which may overwhelm the salad. Something to watch out for).
Cheers, all. Happy Memorial Day and a special thanks to all who are serving our country; in whatever capacity.
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Sounds delicious, but I have a silly question... is your broccoli cooked or raw? I'd be tempted to steam until it's somewhat cooked but has a bite, then chill it down before using, but I'm not sure if that would gel with the rest of the ingredients.
Great question. If you do any cooking with this at all, you'll only want to blanch the broccoli. Essentially, you dip the broccoli in boiling water only for about 15-20 seconds, at most. Then you quickly take the broccoli out and drop it in ice water. This is what they call "shocking" a vegetable. It immediately halts the cooking process and, if you're cooking something green like beens, broccoli, asparagus etc, they will turn vibrant green and stay that way. If you do it that way, the other ingredients would still work. The key is to make sure the broccoli stays crunchy and is cold. Cooking for longer than 15-20 seconds it will get mushy.
Love broccoli salad! I use turkey bacon instead of real bacon, which also has a nice flavor and saves a bit on the calories.
Oh yum! This one sounds good too!
Looks delicious!
I love broccoli salad! The version I have had always used mozzarella but the cheddar sounds delicious! Also love a slightly more lemony dressing :)
There are so many versions of this salad, and pretty much all of them are delicious. It's a summertime staple in our home.
I just made a broccoli salad today too. This recipe with cheddar sounds even better though - next time!
I have a recipe from my mother in law that is the same thing and I love it....I always try and chill mine overnight to its nice and crispy cold when you eat it
That's a good idea. It's definitely better when cold.
I love me a good broccoli salad and this looks delish!
*dressing .... Not feeding...
That's a LOT of sugar! Could the feeding be changed to something healthier do you think?
Hi Kezia! You are correct- the dressing has a lot of sugar in it. We've also made it with Xylitol instead of sugar. Xylitol is a natural sweetener that is really low on the glycemic index. It behaves a lot like sugar in baking and cooking, though it takes a bit more to dissolve it. If you use xylitol, maybe try mixing half of it with the lemon juice and stir it until it dissolves pretty good. That should help.