Comfort food and nostalgia soaked recipes are reigning supreme over here these days (just wait until 5-cup Salad hits Planet Byn!). I guess you wouldn’t normally think of a raw broccoli salad as comfort food, but it is for me. This is one of my favourite recipes that my friend Katy makes (you might remember her from this Sausage & Potato Hash or my many trips to Ottawa), going back to our days in university.

I texted her last week asking about the recipe for this, because I couldn’t remember the exact proportions. The dressing is a super simple mixture of mayo (use good mayo, as Ina would say), sugar and white vinegar, that gets tossed with raw broccoli florets, crisp bacon, chopped red onion and sunflower seeds. Katy also says you can throw in some grated cheddar, and many recipes for this type of salad also include raisins or dried cranberries. I only had bacon and sunflower seeds this time, and it was still delicious.

Eating it just reminded me of summer days and backyard BBQs and made me very happy (plus I guess it’s a good thing to eat a green vegetable every once in a while during quarantine).

Broccoli Salad

Source: Katy

Ingredients

Dressing

• 1/2 cup mayo
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup vinegar

Salad

• 1 head broccoli, cut into small florets
• 4 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
• 1/2 cup red onion, diced
• 1/4 cup sunflower seeds
• 1/4 cup raisins or dried cranberries (optional)
• 1/4 cup grated cheddar (optional)

Directions

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the mayo, sugar and vinegar.
2. Add the broccoli, bacon, red onion, sunflower seeds and raisins/craisins/cheddar (if using). Toss together until everything is combined. This keeps well in the fridge for a couple days.