Broccoli and bacon salad

Since I posted such a flop yesterday (thanks for all the tips by the way, I will be trying the kale chips again thanks to you guys), I figured I should share a winner today....and this is it! This stuff was sooooo addicting, I tore through the leftovers for lunches at work and wasn't even mad about it. I have a love of broccoli that runs deeeeeep, my friends. I steam it and cover it with fresh cracked salt and pepper, and sprinkle some parmesan cheese on it for our standard side dish all the time. I call it "death by broccoli" because Main Man and I kill a whole head of broccoli in one sitting.  No big D.

This stuff though...the cranberries give it a chewy sweet aspect, the onions a tiny bite, the almonds and sunflower seeds give some salty with some crunchy....gaaaahhhhhh. You will be the talk of the party if you bring this to your next summer potluck. You can trust this not so skinny cook :)

2 heads fresh broccoli, washed and cut into bite size florets

1/2 cup chopped red onion

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1/2 cup slivered almonds

1/2  cup roasted sunflower seeds

1/2-1 cup crumbled bacon (approx 12 slices for 1 cup...I used turkey bacon)

1 cup mayo (I used greek yogurt)

3 T white vinegar

1/3 cup sugar (I used stevia so I used a little less)

1/2 t ground black pepper

Mix all of the top group together in a bowl, and mix all the second group together in a smaller bowl. I didn't want it to get soggy as this was a side dish I brought to the lake, so I didn't mix the dressing with the broccoli until I served it....but just kept both refrigerated until that point. YUMMMMMM!

It said this serves 8-10 people, but we had 4 eating on it for two meals and I think I got four lunches out of it when I brought it home. It actually stayed pretty well and didn't get soggy with the dressing on so you could mix it all together beforehand if the feeling hits you. The best part is once you buy all the ingredients, you will have all the ingredients on hand again to make another batch (nobody sells a half a cup of anything). Also, with the substitutions to the game (turkey bacon, stevia, greek yogurt) this isn't going to kill the waistline either so get out of the pasta salad line and get on the broccoli train! You'll thank me later! Happy Thursday, peeps!

I hope no one noticed I spelled broccoli two different ways throughout this post...back and forth, back and forth, between "broccoli" and "brocolli". I don't know why it's one of the words that always get me...I never remember if it's 2 c's or 2 l's or 2 of both!? Anyway, I fixed it...forgive me, it's a little embarrassing for the fourth grade spelling bee champion to mess up such a common word.  Guess I'm out of practice...