Picnic Salads -- Broccoli

Since summer is THE time for picnics and potlucks and family food gatherings, here's a tasty feed-many salad to fit the bill.  This one had been poached from our friend Elayne's recipe cabinet who let us whip up a batch for a 4th of July food extravaganza.  It's got just the right balance of sweet and salty and crunchy and not.  The dressing is a variation on the one that Elayne's mom makes for her cole slaw; we added a bit of honey to give it a nice underbelly of mellow sweetness.

Elayne's Broccoli Salad

8 stalks of broccoli, cut into bite-size pieces and blanched
8 strips bacon, cooked
1/2 medium purple onion, chopped small
3/4 cup raisins
1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded

Dressing

1-1/2 cups mayonnaise
3 tbsp apple cider vinegar
4-1/2 tsp sugar
4-1/2 tsp honey

Remove the stalks of the broccoli and cut the florets (heads) into small bite-size pieces.

To blanch the broccoli, bring a large pot of water to a rapid boil over high heat. While the water heats, fill a bowl with ice and water. Once the water is boiling, drop the broccoli in and boil them only until they're barely cooked through but still tender (about 2 minutes). The broccoli will turn a really pretty bright green.

Remove the broccoli and place in the ice bath. Once its cool to the touch, drain the water and let it sit to continue draining (water will get caught in the florets so shaking them a couple of times to release the water is not a bad idea).

In a frying pan, cook up the bacon strips until they are nice and crispy. When done, remove from pan and set on paper towels to drain.  Once cool to the touch, break into small, but not miniscule, pieces.

Chop your onion into small pieces, but not so small you can't easily pick them out in case anyone you know (k2) doesn't eat raw onions. 

In a small bowl, whisk together the mayo, vinegar, sugar and honey until smooth.

In a large bowl, mix blached broccoli, raisins, and shredded cheese. Gently fold in dressing and bacon pieces (gently so that you don't break up the bacon pieces too much).

Let sit for at least 30 minutes to allow flavors to blend and serve either cold or at room temperature.