My very favorite mom-in-law (Doris, from The Doris Project) makes a very nice broccoli salad, loaded with cheese and raisins and red onion and mayonnaise and, if I recall correctly, bacon (everything goes better with bacon).
I love it, but it’s not one of Rich’s favorites for some reason, so, when I came across a recipe for a marinated broccoli salad – no mayonnaise, just a mustard-y vinnaigrette, I thought I’d give it a try, with a few, minor, ermmm, adjustments.
I won’t buy salad dressings anymore; they’re loaded with more sweeteners than are needed and a bunch of other stuff I, for one, can just as easily do without; so I immediately opted not to use the called for ‘lite’ raspberry vinaigrette and chose to make my own.
Hmmm. Mebbe I chose wrong there. The salad was good, but my vinaigrette, made with the juice from a jar of hot cherry peppers was a bit too much for this salad. Fortunately, I have a fix…
INGREDIENTS
Salad:
•4 cups blanched broccoli*
•1/2 sweet onion, thinly sliced
•1 cup red and yellow grape tomatoes
•5 or 6 slices hot pickled cherry peppers
•1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
•2 tbsp pine nuts
•1 tbsp poppy seed
Dressing (Used):
•1 tsp Dijon mustard
•1-1/2 tbsp cherry peppers juice
•1/2 tsp Aleppo pepper
•1/4 cup olive oil
•Pinch of sugar
Dressing (More Better):
•1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
•2/3 cup veggie oil
•1 tsp garlic powder
•1/4 tsp salt
•1 tsp celery seed
•2 tbsp honey
Make the dressing by combining the vinegar or pepper juice with the seasonings in a bowl or blender jar. With the blender running, slowly stream in the oil until the dressing has emulsified.
Set aside while you make the salad.
Toss the salad ingredients together in a large bowl, then pour the salad dressing over and toss to coat.
Cover tightly and stash in the fridge for four hours before serving.
*Blanching the broccoli before using will help to keep it bright green in the marinade, and it’s a snap to do; bring a large pot of water to a boil. Once the water is boiling, add one teaspoon of salt and fill a large bowl with ice water.
Add cut broccoli to the boiling water for three minutes, or until bright green, then immediately transfer to the ice water to lock that color in and stop cooking.
Simple, see?
And note how nice and green the broccoli was even after chilling in the fridge with the marinade for five hours or so.
Nice.
So was the ham and the corn bread.