Broccoli Salad

Shortly after moving to a community having both rural and suburban characteristics some thirty something years ago, my affinity and love for antiques was set in motion. With no life experience frame of reference to guide me, my early 'antique' purchases were mostly influenced by pouring over books and magazines, attending antique shows, and browsing in antique stores. After several years of this random education, learning from my 'mistakes', and having my life cross paths with someone possessing a great deal of antique wisdom and knowledge, my eye and heart started to gravitate toward all things from the late 18th and early 19th centuries. To this day my heart races and head spins whenever I discover an antique shop or walk into a home filled with beautiful, sometimes primitive period pieces or collections. Beyond their visual beauty, it is the known as well as unknown stories of their provenance that I find equally compelling. When I look at my small collection of antique hand-stitched samplers, I wonder where ten year old Elizabeth Rannard lived in 1835 and what became of her. Or as I fill some of my hard carved painted trencher dough bowls with gourds, pumpkins, and Indian corn, I imagine they once held balls of dough used to bake homemade loaves bread prized by family and friends.

Walking past the cupboards filled with my collections of antique bowls, platters, and cake stands, I feel grateful to and for all of those who had cared for them before me. As these antique pieces seem to have the unexplainable ability to make all foods look and taste even better (so why do I continue to buy 'new' dishes?) Like how the slightly altered version of a vintage, not yet antique recipe, for Broccoli Salad, served on the brown transfer ware platter was so much more delicious than I had remembered it being.

Was it because I used dried cranberries instead of raisins, because I altered the ingredient amounts, or because it was served on an antique brown transferware platter? Whatever the reason or reasons, I am beside myself happy I rediscovered the recipe while going through my collection of cookbooks. Ironically it just happened to come from a book of favorite recipes submitted by women living in the town responsible for opening my eyes to the world of antiques.

Broccoli happens to be one of those vegetables with a significant number of health benefits. From offsetting Vitamin D deficiencies with its high levels of vitamins A and K, to having high levels of vitamin C, to having some cholesterol-lowering benefits, to even having anti-flammatory benefits, we should all be eating it at least weekly. And considering my recent running injury woes, I should probably be eating it daily!

For the creamiest, smoothest, most flavorful dressing, it should be the night before. The overnight resting allows the sugar and red wine vinegar to become completely infused into the mayonnaise, resulting in a perfect balance of sweet and tart. Lately I have become a big fan of Duke's mayonnaise, a brand well known to cooks to the south. This was the mayonnaise I used to make this salad, however, Hellman's mayonnaise would work as well.

A yield of a generous three to four cups of florets will come from 5 to 6 stems of broccoli.

Yes, I am on a bacon binge this week. There are many versions of Broccoli Salad out there on the web and in cookbooks. The ones that do not contain bacon are ones missing a key ingredient in this salad. Cooked to almost crisp and drained on paper towels, the bacon is cut into lardons (i.e., small strips) before added to the salad. If possible, buy the thicker cut of bacon usually found in the meat section in your grocery store. As another good option use the prepackaged thick cut applewood smoked bacon.

The early versions of this recipe used raisins. This one uses dried cranberries. Some Broccoli Salad recipes use sliced almonds. This one uses roasted, salted sunflower seeds. The combination of dried cranberries and roasted, salted sunflower seeds is nothing short of perfect.

This is not the Broccoli Salad you buy from the deli counter at your grocery store. The ratio of dressing to salad is one where when tossed, the salad is one lightly dressed versus one drowning in dressing. The dressing does not mask each of the flavors in the salad, it compliments them.

While the dressing is tossed into the salad right before serving, the broccoli is still able to retain its' crunch the next day. 

Choose your favorite or most beautiful platter when serving this Broccoli Salad. Trust me on this. Yes I know there there is current commercial out there for paper goods that want you to believe the table setting doesn't matter. Remember they are trying to sell you something. And it's more than their products! 

Once plated, sprinkle on the remaining reserved sunflower seeds and the lardons/strips cut from one slice of bacon. Like the fall landscape, this is a colorful salad. Served with a roasted chicken or some grilled steaks, it makes for a perfect meal. As an added bonus, it also one having some health and nutritional benefits. 

While making this Broccoli Salad, a flurry of memories came back to me. Memories of a house I never thought I would ever want to leave or give up; of a whirlwind antique weekend out east with friends; and, of meals eaten on table settings so beautiful even a peanut butter and jelly sandwich would have been elevated to levels reserved only for five star restaurants. And all of this happened because I had saved and reopened a cookbook purchased so many years ago.

Recipe
Broccoli Salad (inspired by The Happy Times with Home Cooking cookbook, a compilation of recipes contributed by some of the women from Crete, Illinois)

Ingredients
Salad
3 - 4 generous cups broccoli florets, from 5-6 stalks of broccoli (Cut large florets into smaller, bite-sized pieces.)
2/3 pound of thick cut bacon, cooked to almost crisp and cut into pieces
3/4 cup finely chopped red onion (from the half of a large red onion or one small red onion)
3/4 cup dried cranberries (or raisins)
3/4 cup roasted, salted sunflower seeds, divided

Dressing
1 cup mayonnaise (recommend using either Duke's or Hellman's brands)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 Tablespoons red wine vinegar

Directions
1. Combine the mayonnaise, granulated sugar and red wine vinegar in a small bowl. Stir until well combined. Cover and store in the refrigerator overnight (or at least 4 hours).
2. Before mixing salad, reserve the lardons from one slice of bacon and 2 Tablespoons of the roasted, salted sunflower seeds.
3. In a large bowl, combine the broccoli florets, bacon lardons, red onion, dried cranberries and sunflower seeds.
4. Add dressing to the mixture, and stir until fully incorporated.
5. Transfer salad to a large platter. Top with the reserved bacon and sunflower seeds.
6. Serve immediately.

Note: Refrigerate any leftovers, covering the platter or bowl with plastic wrap.

Ferns and reflections found on a walk in Wilbur Woods (Little Compton, RI)