Broccoli Salad

I must admit I have a very difficult time calling a recipe that involves bacon and mayonnaise a salad. It reminds me of Mrs. Eriksen’s Seven Layer Salad on How I Met Your Mother, which involved iceberg lettuce, carrots, cabbage, ground beef, funyuns, potato chips, and gummy bears with a thick layer of mayonnaise between each ingredient. Even though this recipe isn’t exactly healthy, it has become at Thanksgiving staple.

This recipe is the only way my brother will eat broccoli. He refused to eat broccoli for about 20 years, until one of his friends made him this salad. Until then Jeff used many techniques to distract my parents while he threw his broccoli on our sister’s plate. He would point, announce there was a deer/wild turkey/bird on the lawn and then get rid of his broccoli.

Jeff insists on having the broccoli salad at Thanksgiving. Personally, it isn’t my favorite, but if you don’t put it on your plate, Jeff will do it for you. If you have kids, and you are so desperate to get them to love broccoli that you are ok with coating it in bacon, mayo and sugar – this is the recipe for you! In all seriousness, most people do love this “salad” and people have emailed me for the recipe. It is also super simple.

Broccoli Florets (raw) – 1 head
6 slices or more of bacon- crumbled
1/2 cup craisins
1/2 roasted almonds
1/2 cup halved cherry tomatoes
1 cup mayo
2 tablespoons white vinegar
1/3 cup sugar
Salt and Pepper

Toss first 5 ingredients in bowl. Combine the last three & toss. Serve chilled.