Cooking Recipes Articel

Broccoli salad is a very versatile dish that can be made in an endless variety of ways. Here is a breakdown of the most popular ingredients and dressings.

1-Ingredients:

The first ingredient is of course fresh broccoli. 2 heads will do for an average sized salad. Chop the stem off and cut the flowerettes into bite sized pieces.

Next add some chopped vegetables. The favorites are onion
celery
carrots and cauliflower. Just add as much as you like until it looks like a good mix.

Some people like to add bacon. Fry up 6-8 strips until crispy
drain grease and set aside. Crumble bacon after it's cooled and add to salad just before serving.

Any type of cheese can be used. It can be cubed
crumbled
shredded
or creamed as part of a dressing.

Fruit is often added to these salads
usually raisins. Also popular are grapes
cranberries
chopped apple
mandarin orange pieces
or any dried fruit.

Adding sunflower seeds or nuts to the mix gives the salad a little extra crunch. Almonds
walnuts
cashews and hazelnuts are good examples. Try not to chop the nuts too small. Keeping the pieces larger helps the flavour of the nut stand out a little. Toasting the nuts with a little seasoning is an option as well.

If you would rather not chop up any fruit or nuts just add some trail mix to the salad instead.

2-Dressings:

a. The standard dressing for this salad is a basic mayonnaise/vinegar/sugar mix:

1 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup vinegar
1/4 cup sugar

* Mayonnaise can be mixed with yogurt to lighten it up.
* Flavoured vinegar can be used or substituted with lemon or lime juice.
* Artificial sweetener can be used instead of sugar.

b. An oil/vinegar dressing can also be used:

1/2 cup salad oil
1/4 cup vinegar
1/4 cup sugar(optional)
1/2 tsp. salt

* Flavoured cider or wine vinegar is recommended.
* Spices such as celery seed
onion powder
basil
and oregano can be added.

c. Your favorite bottled dressing can be used as well. Any creamy or italian style dressing will work fine on a broccoli salad . A good one to try is 3-cheese ranch.

3-More Stuff:

Here's a few various items that could be added to make your salad something original:

* Any canned vegetable such as peas
corn or beans(black
kidney
garbanzo
waxed
etc.).
* Fresh vegetables such as mushrooms
chives
bean sprouts
green beans
cucumber and bell peppers.
* Seafood can make it interesting: shrimp
scallops
salmon
and calamari are good additions.

4-The Method:

* Add broccoli flowerettes and any other ingredients you are using to your salad bowl. If you are using crumbled bacon or bacon bits add them just before serving.
* Add your dressing
mix and refrigerate 2-4 hours or overnight.
* Stir salad again before serving.