Recipe: Broccoli Crunch Salad

Broccoli Crunch Salad, right before assembly.

Mmm … broccoli?

If you’re George Bush, not so much. (I hope I’m not the only one who remembers Bush the elder bashing broccoli. If so, I’m really dating myself, aren’t I?)

I’ve always liked what my brother liked to call little green trees — at least since I learned, by watching Food Network, that broccoli should still be bright green after it’s cooked. My mom, bless her heart, cooked it in the pressure cooker until it took on a sickly yellow-green hue.

Normally, I prefer it cooked. But there’s one recipe I love that features raw broccoli: Yep. You’ve heard me rave about it before: Broccoli Crunch Salad.

I found the original recipe on a low-carb recipe website (but have no idea which one, or if I could find it again. It’s in a big blue binder full of low-carb recipes my roommate and I collected from various online sources when we did Atkins starting in 2003).

I stopped eating it when I started WW, but I shouldn’t have. It can easily be adapted to be lower in fat by using light mayo and low-fat cheese. Don’t skimp on the real bacon though. That (in my opinion) is what makes this salad sing.

Broccoli Crunch Salad is both super versatile and super delicious. It’s also pretty simple to make, especially if you use a food processor to chop the broccoli.

I hope you like it as much as I do.

• 1 head of broccoli, chopped
• 1/2 pound bacon, cooked and crumbled
• 1 cup shredded cheddar
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 2 T sugar substitute
• 2 T cider vinegar

Mix first three ingredients. Mix last three ingredients. Then combine and mix well.

P.S. I’ve blogged this recipe before, but wanted to have it in its own post so I could hook it up with the Healthy Living Blogs recipe link-up featuring broccoli and cauliflower.