I am not a fan of raw vegetables. Wait, let me reword that. I’m not a fan of raw vegetables unless they’re covered in some sort of dressing or sauce. I could eat cooked veggies all day long, but rabbit food pure rawness just isn’t my cup of tea.
So if there’s a recipe that can make raw vegetables taste like candy, I’m all over it. I’ve had broccoli salad a few times before, so I knew exactly what I wanted to do with the ginormous bag of Mann’s broccoli I picked up from the store yesterday. I’ve seen a few different versions of broccoli salad recipes, but I tweaked mine a bit and love the result.
Sweet Broccoli Salad (yields 6-8 servings)
ingredients:
- 1 pound raw broccoli
- 1/4 cup raisins
- 1/4 cup dried apricots, cut into quarters
- 3 slices (regular or turkey) bacon
- 1/2 cup canola-based mayonnaise
- 1/4 cup honey
- the juice of one lemon
- salt and pepper (to taste)
directions:
1. Begin by frying bacon on medium heat for 1-2 minutes per side, or until crispy. Set bacon aside to cool.
2. Cut broccoli into smaller, bite-size pieces. Combine with raisins and dried apricots.
3. Whisk together mayonnaise, honey, and lemon juice to make a dressing. Season with salt.
4. Pour dressing over broccoli mixture and combine. Make sure everything is coated, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving to let the dressing soak in (I let mine sit overnight).
5. Crumble bacon and combine with broccoli mixture immediately before serving (so that it stays nice and crunchy!).
6. Dig in!
Other great additions to the salad are:
- golden raisins
- sunflower seeds
- chopped red onion
Not only is this salad delicious, but it’s so easy to make – perfect if you’re looking for something to bring to a summer barbeque – or just looking for a tastier way to squeeze in some veggies 😉
- Do you like raw veggies? What’s your favorite way to eat them?
- Don’t forget that my NuNaturals giveaway ends today at 5pm EST!
Lauren says
Hey there… I really like your broccoli salad recipe. I actually like raw veggies, but that’s because I like pain, apparently, because they give me a tummy ache. I love mixing sweet and chewy dried fruits and honey into my salads also. You might like this health salad recipe I just posted recently, it’s a healthy slaw-type sweet side dish. Check it out: Can’t wait to try your recipe out.
- Lauren, Lauren’s Little Kitchen
I love the salad! Will def try it soon.
Lauren says
Couldn’t get my link to work. I like raw veggies like this:
health salad
Dude this is too funny. I literally JUST finished making a sweet broccoli salad for tonight! Great minds think alike I guess
I love some raw veggies and hate others, but I think my favorite way to eat them is in salad beast form. Love! Happy Friday!!
i’m not a fan of raw broccoli, but if there’s enough sauce to soften it, i’ll give it a try. this looks good. esp w/ the turkey bacon! i love the raisins in it.
I could NOT figure out what you were talking about on Twitter at first…LOL! Now I know! I would probably actually eat this. Why yes, yes I would.
I can’t really do broccoli raw unless it is well dressed either! Other veggies are all good raw like carrots, cucumbers, tomato..but all root veggies should definitely be cooked!
I also can’t handle raw veggies plain. I wish I could..but I just can’t! I love the idea of your salad, and am so going to try it. Mu hubby loves brocolli, so maybe this would be a good side dish for one of our dinners! He can’t eat just vegies like I can…he needs his meat! Lol
I am antsy too, I think I got some bad coffee. Your sandwich looks nom nom. I love cold asparagus:) Little vinaigrette, and parm cheese. Voila!
Rebecca says
Mm, broccoli salad is one of my favorite family reunion dishes! This recipe may just rival my aunt PJ’s, and that’s saying something 😉
WHERE did you find hazelnuts?! The most interesting thing our local grocery store has ever stocked has been pistachios. I would love to try some!
Alex @ IEatAsphalt says
I never eat raw broccoli, partially because it kills my stomach. Other wise I love raw green beans, asparagus, squash, pretty much all vegetables that are normally cooked. I’m definitely a purist when it comes to veggies, I like them pretty plain.
That sandwich looks killer!! And I’m not sure if I’d dig the broccoli salad but it sure looks good (:
Lauren says
I’ve been lurking around your blog for a couple of weeks now and decided it was finally time to comment. I have thoroughly enjoyed reading your entries so far - keep up the good work!
I have always been a raw veggie fanatic. As a kid, I was an extremely picky eater but shockingly, I loved vegetables. My mom is a dietitian, and introduced me to salads early on; to this day, they are still one of my favourite meals. My mom and I sometimes used to split a sliced raw tomato (technically a fruit I suppose, but still) with salt and pepper as an after school snack. My dad would make me little vegetable, fruit and cheese platters for breakfast before school. These days, my most frequent use of raw veggies is to scoop up hummus!
I like most vegetables raw EXCEPT for broccoli and cauliflower. They taste kind of cabbagey. Apparently they’re in the same family? One time I tried raw tabbouleh with cauliflower and really liked it. It definitely smelled like cabbage though. I might have to try your sweet dressing, minus the bacon (or with a veggie bacon instead!)
I LOVE raw veggies…especially dipped in hummus or salsa!
I do like raw veggies- especially in salads with my favorite maple mustard viniagrette, or dipped in a hidden valley ranch packet mixed with light sour cream. I’ll eat them plain, but I like them best with a little added flavor:-).
Oh, and that broccoli salad? Looks fabulous!
I’ve had a broccoli salad similar to this before. I could eat a huge bowl of this salad, it is veggies is disguise!
I like raw veggies. I love veggies dipped in honey mustard sauce or hummus. So good!
Broccoli salad is my all time favorite summer bbq potluck type food. My Grandma makes one for our family bbq and it is SO good!!
Love that you said Dude! I must reincorporate that word back in my vocabulary!
Hmm….I don’t usually like sweet veggie salads, but this one looks good! Might have to try it the next time I have some broccoli.
I like raw veggies. Guess I’m a wierdo? Haha. But that salad looks really good - gonna have to try it!
that broccoli salad looks delish and I usually HATE raw broccoli.
I’ve never had hazelnuts! Only hazelnut flavored stuff…
great recipe! i just bought a head of broccoli today. i’m making this tomorrow!
I know this goes against the whole ‘raw’ concept- but I microwave my broccolislaw with soy sauce or bbq sauce for about 15min until it’s soft and it’s SO good- not hard to chew or digest!
I was sent a bag to sample from OhNuts.com…they’re delicious!! They have a huge selection on the website too.
No way!! We’re eerily similar, hahaha. Can’t wait to see your version!