Delicious Broccoli Salad with Currants

Fresh broccoli can be used in vegetable salads and will keep its color, flavor and texture even after dressing has been applied. This salad uses a sweet coleslaw style dressing with sugar, bacon, red onions and currants.

This salad serves around 8 to 10 depending on serving size. If you are transporting this to a picnic or storing it in lunchboxes, always keep it chilled since it contains mayonnaise. This salad is best served fresh but can also be made ahead one day in advance for ease in preparation for a pot luck or a picnic.

The broccoli salad can be dressed up or down depending on what is added to the recipe. See the variations after the recipe for different ways on how this recipe can be changed. During the holidays, add diced fresh bell peppers to the salad. During the fall add in chopped pecans. The spring and summer time, add in other dried fruits to make it more lively.

Delicious Broccoli Salad with Currants

Ingredients:

2 bunches fresh broccoli
5 strips bacon, fried until crisp then crumbled
1/2 cup finely diced red onion
1 cup currants

Dressing:

1 cup real mayonnaise
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 Tbsp white vinegar
1/4 tsp white pepper
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp dried mustard powder

Procedure:

Wash off the broccoli heads and pat dry. Cut the broccoli into small bite sized florets and place in a large mixing bowl. Add in the crumbled bacon, finely diced red onion, and dried currants.

In a smaller mixing bowl, whisk the real mayonnaise, granulated sugar, white vinegar, white pepper, salt and dried mustard powder together until smooth.

Pour over the vegetables and toss to coat. Serve immediately, or refrigerate up to a day before serving.

Variations:

This recipe can be used for many different situations and occasions. Here are some quick and tasty variations to try.

Different Dried Fruits: Substitute other dried fruits for the currants, such as dried raisins, cranberries, blueberries, or even chopped dried apricots. The colors and different flavors of the different fruits will go good with the sweet and sour dressing.

Sweeten with Different Sweeteners: Substitute some of the sugar with honey for a different flavor. The honey will make a nice pairing with dried apricots.

Add Different Vegetables: Add chopped green onions, diced red bell peppers or yellow bell peppers, or even cauliflower florets for different coloring combinations.

Add a Little Crunch: Add in a little bit of chopped pecans or slivered almonds to the salad for a little natural crunch.