Broccoli Salad with Bacon and Cranberries

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I haven’t always had a great relationship with broccoli. It’s a word that I’m forever looking up because I can never remember if it’s spelled with two c’s or two l’s or both (I knew writing this post was either going to be torture or force me to remember how to spell it once and for all). But as a kid it was a vegetable and it was green. Two strikes.

As I’ve gotten older, I’ve developed a taste for these mini green trees. Not just dishes that cover up the flavor with massive amounts of cheese (like Cheesy Broccoli Casserole, which is delicious, by the way). But I’ll even go so far as to snack on some raw broccoli with low fat vegetable dip. Broccoli salad with bacon and dried cranberries, however, is now officially my favorite way to eat broccoli. It’s sweet, it’s salty, it’s crunchy, it’s chewy. And it definitely doesn’t taste like you’re eating your vegetables.

Tools and ingredients you’ll need

The salad and the dressing each only require five ingredients. In fact, many of the items you probably already have in your pantry or refrigerator. To make this salad, you’ll need:

• 6 cups raw broccoli florets – just in case you didn’t know, the floret refers to branching arms and flowering ends of a stalk of broccoli. You can buy 3-4 bunches of broccoli and cut the florets off yourself or you can find pre-cut florets in the bagged produce section of your grocery store.
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 1/2 cup shelled sunflower seeds
• 1/4 cup diced red onion – or omit if you don’t like onions.
• 1/2 cup chopped cooked bacon –  about seven slices should yield this amount.
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 2 mixing bowls
• Whisk

Whisk together the salad ingredients

Add the  mayonnaise, sugar, apple cider vinegar, salt and black pepper in a medium mixing bowl. Whisk the ingredients together until the dressing is smooth, then set aside.

Assemble the salad

In a large mixing bowl, add the broccoli, cranberries, sunflower seeds, red onion and bacon. Pour the dressing over the top, then toss the salad until the vegetables are evenly coated with the dressing. Cover the salad and place it in the refrigerator for at least two hours before serving.

Storage

Broccoli salad can sit out at room temperature for a minimum of two hours before it needs to be refrigerated. Be sure to store the salad in an airtight container to prevent the salad from drying out. The bacon will absorb some of the moisture from the dressing and lose its crispness. Broccoli salad needs to be consumed within four days.

What to serve with Broccoli Salad with Bacon and Cranberries

• Molasses Glazed Cast Iron Salmon
• Drunk Chicken
• Coca-Cola Marinated Oven Baked Brisket
• Country Fried Steak