Gimme a "B," Gimme a "R", Gimme an "O," Gimme a "C"....

Okay...so I'm not going to finish the cheer, but in the end we come up with BROCCOLI!!!!! Yay! This girl likes the green stuff. I like it steamed, I like it raw, I like it with ranch dressing and I like it with beef (as in beef and broccoli from my fav. chinese establishment.) Ha!

So, I bought an abundance of broccoli the other day and finally had some time yesterday to explore new recipes involving this yummy, crisp and scrumptious, bushy looking vegetable. I wanted a broccoli salad and man, Oh man, did I come up with a winner!

To my delight, one can put just about anything into a broccoli salad! Mango, raisins, ranch, sunflower kernels, red wine vinegar, BACON! This is one of those recipes that is fantastic to keep on the tip of the mind for when you need to throw something together quick!


I don't typically post recipes because I know the internets is 'a swimmin' in recipes, but I'm posting this as an idea of what one can do with the delectable little green vegetable.

Here are the ingredients of the original recipe:

• 2 heads fresh broccoli
• 1 red onion
• 1/2 pound bacon
• 3/4 cup raisins
• 3/4 cup sliced almonds
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar

Here's what I had on hand and therefore put into my salad:

• 4 cups fresh broccoli
• 2 cups fresh cauliflower
  
• 1/4 red onion
• 4 strips bacon crumbled
  
• soy nuts
  
• sunflower kernels
• Mexican style shredded cheese
  
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup white sugar

It was a scavenger hunt of sorts in searching for ingredients that might work, but I was so pleased with how it turned out, that's all I ate for dinner. I even planned to make brownies from scratch, but after tasting the broccoli salad, I no longer had a hankerin' for brownies. That's right kids, I chose broccoli over brownies! Who would have ever thought!

So go! Buy, trade or grow some broccoli! Prepare! And enjoy! : )