Chapter 07 · Slaws, Pickles and Sides
Broccoli Crunch Salad
The potluck legend. Raw broccoli's finest hour.
- Time
- 15 MIN
- Serves
- 4 TO 6 (ONE WHOLE BAG OF FLORETS)
- Skill
- PARING KNIFE
- Tools
- KNIFE, BOARD, BOWL
- Heat
- Mild
- Protein
- No cooked protein
Raw broccoli chopped small, with bacon, cheddar, dried cranberries and sunflower seeds in a sweet-tangy creamy dressing. It converts broccoli skeptics at every potluck. The key is cutting the florets tiny, about the size of a marble, so the dressing coats everything and nothing feels like a raw tree.
The lineup
- 1/3 cup mayonnaise
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tbsp sugar or honey
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 bag (12 oz) broccoli florets, cut into tiny pieces
- 1 shallot, minced
- 4 slices fully cooked bacon, chopped
- 2 oz sharp cheddar, diced small
- 1/3 cup dried cranberries
- 1/4 cup roasted sunflower seeds
- Black pepper
The chop
- Whisk the mayonnaise, vinegar, sugar and salt in the bottom of the bowl.
- Add the broccoli and shallot. Toss until well coated.
- Add the bacon, cheddar and cranberries. Toss again.
- Taste, then add salt, pepper and vinegar until it tastes right to you.
- Scatter the sunflower seeds over the top.
The extras
Dodge the Carbs
Leave out the cranberries and use a sugar-free sweetener in the dressing.
Beef It Up
Double the bacon and cheddar, or add a drained can (10 oz) of chicken.
Future You
Keeps 3 days in the fridge, and is better after a few hours. Add the seeds as you serve.
Show Off
Swap half the mayonnaise for plain Greek yogurt and add a diced apple.
Flavor Bomb
Stir in 1 tbsp of hot pepper relish, or swap the sugar for Hot Honey.
Heat Dial
Mild: as written. Warm: Hot Honey in the dressing. Hot: Hot Honey plus a pinch of cayenne and pepper jack in place of cheddar.
