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.
1 cup shredded natural Swiss cheese (4 ounces) 1 cup cut-up cooked chicken 4 eggs 1/3 cup finely chopped onion 1 teaspoon salt 2 cups whipping cream •1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves •1/4 teaspoon black pepper 1 9-inch pie crust
Chicken Quiche Lorraine
Heat oven to 425 degrees. Pour chopped chicken, onion and cheese in pie crust. Beat eggs slightly. Beat remaining ingredients into eggs. Pour into pie plate. Bake uncovered for 15 minutes.
Reduce oven temperature to 300 degrees. Bake for about 30 minutes longer or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Let stand 10 minutes before cutting.
Serving Suggestions and Tips: To make it a Mushroom Quiche, add 1 can (4 ounces) mushroom pieces and stems, drained and 1 jar (2 ounces) diced pimientos, well drained, with the bacon.
To make it a Bacon Quiche, substitute 12 slices of bacon, crisply cooked and crumbled, for the cooked chicken. Decrease salt to •3/4 teaspoon.
To make Crab Quiche, substitute 1 cup chopped cooked crabmeat or seafood sticks for the cooked chicken. Pat crabmeat dry.
To save time, after sprinkling the pie crust with your choice of meats, cheese and onion, cover and refrigerate. Beat the remaining ingredients together and cover and refrigerate. Keep in the refrigerate no longer than 24 hours. Stir the egg mixture before pouring into pie plate. Continue as directed except increase second bake time to about 45 minutes.
Broccoli Salad
1•1/2 pound fresh broccoli, stems removed 2 tablespoons vegetable oil 2 tablespoons vinegar •1/2 teaspoon salt Romaine lettuce Dash of black pepper 2 tablespoons slivered almonds Homemade Guacamole (see below)
Heat 1 cup water with •1/2 teaspoon of salt to boiling in saucepan. Add the broccoli tops. Cover and heat to boiling. Cook for 4 minutes. Then drain. Mix oil and vinegar in 2•1/2-quart glass or plastic bowl. Add broccoli tops, salt and black pepper; toss. Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour. Arrange broccoli tops on romaine lettuce just before serving. Top with homemade Guacamole and sprinkle with almonds.
Homemade Guacamole
1 medium onion, finely chopped (about •1/2 cup) 2 ripe avocados, peeled and cut up 1 tablespoon lemon juice 1 or 2 green chilli peppers, finely chopped 1 teaspoon coarsely ground pepper 1 teaspoon salt 1 medium tomato, finely chopped (about •3/4 cup) 1 tablespoons of lime juice
Beat avocados, chilli peppers, onion, salt, lemon juice, lime juice and ground pepper until creamy. Stir in tomato. Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour. To make a creamy guacamole, stir •1/4 cup salad dressing or mayonnaise and •1/2 teaspoon garlic salt into avocado mixture before adding tomatoes. To make a bacon guacamole, stir in 2 slices of some crisply cooked and crumbled bacon.
More helpful hints: One package (16 ounces) of frozen broccoli flowerets can be substituted for the 1•1/2 pounds of fresh broccoli in the broccoli salad. Rinse under cold running water to separate. Then drain. Also, a name brand or store brand of guacamole dip can be substituted for the homemade guacamole.
Both Gordon Angrignon & Michael Russell are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Gordon Angrignon has sinced written about articles on various topics from Cooking Tips, Food and Drink. Gordon Angrignon is a sea-urchin diver from Cumberland, British Columbia on Vancouver Island. When not on the fishing grounds he's busy researching and making salads for his website http://www.easysaladrecipes.com, a compilation of free salad recipes incl. Gordon Angrignon's top article generates over 12100 views. to your Favourites.
Michael Russell has sinced written about articles on various topics from Celebrities, Dieting and Diabetes Treatment. Michael RussellYour Independent guide to . Michael Russell's top article generates over 2240000 views. to your Favourites.