Broccoli Salad

Broccoli Salads is one of those retro picnic table mainstays of summer. If done right, it can be a star. Crunchy, sweet, and tangy, this salad is full of potential. I only made a few changes to the traditional recipe that I found on All Recipes. I happen to be a sucker for golden raisins because I think they have more delicate flavor than regular raisins. Since I don't like raw broccoli, I also blanch my broccoli in boiling water quickly before assembling the salad. I love the sunflower seeds for a crunch. Sunflower seeds remind me of my days as the manager of my high school baseball team while I was nursing a hurdling injury. What is a 5'4" stocky girl from New Jersey doing running the hurdles, you might ask? I'm a sucker for punishment and I was too lazy and slow for any other events. So much for keeping in shape for hockey season. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this simple broccoli salad as much as I did.

Broccoli Salad
Ingredients:
2 small heads of broccoli
1/2 cup golden raisins
1 small red onion
2 Tablespoons sugar
3 Tablespoons white vinegar
2/3 cup mayonnaise
1/3 cup yogurt or sour cream (you could use all mayo)
1 cup sunflower seeds
6 slices of bacon

1. Wash the broccoli and slice off the florets into bite-size pieces. If you get small heads of broccoli, the stalks are sweet and have a great flavor so I try to leave a lot of stem on the florets. It also makes the salad very pretty.
2. You can skip this step if you want, but I like to boil a pot of water and throw the broccoli in there for 2 minutes until lightly cooked. It retains it's flavor, bright color, and firmness, but looses some of the raw floret texture. Drain them and allow to cool while you make the dressing.
3. Fry the bacon slices and crumble or slice them into pieces. I also plump up my raisins in a cup of warm water before adding them to the salad. Slice the red onion into thin slices and rinse them in cold water to reduce their acrid taste.

4. Whisk together mayo, yogurt, sugar, and vinegar with a sprinkle of salt and pepper in a large bowl until smooth. Toss the broccoli, bacon, seeds, onion, and raisins into the bowl and mix so that everything is coated.

Enjoy!