Broccoli Salad

For Christmas dinner this year, I wanted to make something delicious, and maybe not so terribly bad for you.  I did a lot of thinking, and read a lot of recipes, and searched a lot of places, with nothing really sounding like just the right thing.  Then it dawned on me what I really wanted was broccoli salad, and not a pre-packaged, full of fat store bought variety.

This realization led to, of course, more researching and recipe reading, and finally I just came up with my own thing.  I have been asked by several people for the recipe, so here I am, faithful readers, to share it with the world.

What I did, and I encourage you all to do, is to look at the fresh produce available, and what you and your family likes, and alter the recipe to your liking.  If you want different veggies; ADD THEM!  Doesn't matter what kind, because most vegetables taste great raw in a salad!

Also, use what ever kind of pasta you like.  Some varieties hold sauce better than others (think of the swirly ones, with all kinds of little nooks for the sauce to seep in to).  Also, don't add oil to your boiling water.  This makes sauces slide right off of the cooked pasta.  Just add a little salt to the water, and stir it once or twice during cooking.



Ingredients:
16 oz box bowtie pasta
3 broccoli crowns
1 pint cherry tomatoes
1 lemon
canola oil
red wine vinegar
salt
freshly cracked pepper


Start off by cooking your pasta according to the directions on the box.  When it's finished, drain it, and cool it immediately by rinsing it in cold water until the PASTA IS COLD.  This is important, it stops the cooking.  If you just run water over the pasta quickly and leave it to cool in the drainer, it just keeps cooking and will turn to mush in your salad. EW!

Now, while the pasta is cooking, you can start cutting up your veggies.  I cut the little florets off of the broccoli crowns and in to bite sized pieces, then I used a mandlin to slice up most of the stalks.  The stalks of broccoli are just as edible as the floret part, but most people choose to throw it away :(  This is a huge waste, and, you are throwing out lots of fiber, iron, and calcium! Just don't use the last half inch or so at the bottom, this is where it starts to get tough.  Throw all that gorgeous broccoli in to a big bowl.

Cut all those lovely little cherry tomatoes in half and toss those in the bowl too!

Once your pasta is totally cool, and well drained, toss it in the bowl with the veggies.  Drizzle a TINY amount of oil over the noodles so that you can give the whole bowl a bit of a stir.  Look at your salad:  is there a good ratio of veggies to pasta?  Is it colorful enough?  If there is too much pasta, you can pick some of it out and put it in a tupperware to eat later, but I suggest adding in more veggies!  So great suggestions to add in here are:

Shredded carrots, roughly chopped bell peppers (orange, red and yellow make it super pretty!), raw green beans, or what ever else looks good or is in season. By the way, if you've never eaten a raw green bean, give it a try, they are so yummy, and a nice, healthy snack.  You could also add in some almond slivers, or some crumbly cheese.  I don't care for cheese *in* a salad like this, because it gets mushy, but you could sprinkle it on top of your own bowl.

Now that you have the salad assembled, you can start to work on the dressing.  Now, don't be intimidated by "making vinaigrette."  If you don't wanna, just buy a bottle of a vinaigrette that sounds good to you (basalmic is usually a good choice,)  however, it is SO easy to make a vinaigrette for a salad.

Use the smallest side on your grater, and zest all the lovely yellow off of your lemon and put that in to something with a lid, I use a mason jar for this.  Then roll the lemon around on the table for a few minutes, and squish it up some.  You want it to be really juicey.  Cut the lemon in half, and add the juice to the jar with your lemon zest, be careful of the seeds.  Now, this next is the part where you try it out.  Add in about 6 TBS oil to your jar, and about 3 TBS red wine vinegar, add in a sprinkle of salt, and several turns of the pepper grinder, then put the lid on the jar and shake it up.  Once you've shaken it well, take the lid off of it and taste it.  If it's perfect, then you are finished, if not, add in a little more oil, or a little more vinegar and then shake it and taste it again.  You can add in other herbs here if you like, but this simple vinaigrette is so tasty, that I like it  just the way it is. You want to enhance the flavors of the vegetables, not mask them!

When your dressing is finished, wait until just before serving to pour it over your salad, and then give it a toss- it's finished and ready to enjoy!