Sunday, January 31, 2021

A New Favorite Broccoli Salad + 5 More Broccoli Recipes to Make Right Now

The funny thing about not having traveled anywhere in nearly a year is that even the most ordinary of excursions would be a thrill right now.

I'd give anything to spend a morning at the Honest Weight Food Co-op in Albany, wandering the aisles, loading up on bulk-food essentials, sipping an apple zinger, a freshly squeezed ginger-spiked juice (costing a small fortune).

Or to pop into Nora's for labneh and pomegranate molasses or any of the homemade Armenian food the owners have prepared that morning and so generously will sample should you show a whisper of interest. Once, while eyeing an enormous bowl filled with an enticing red paste, my stares were answered: You want muhammara? Come. I'll show you.

Or to cruise the aisles of the Asian Supermarket filling my cart with bags of baby bok choy, giant bundles of scallions, frozen udon noodles, and tins of Korean double hot tuna.

In pre-Covid times, this sort of shopping was my favorite pastime, my therapy, outings that always left me feeling rejuvenated, inspired.

Recently I've been reminiscing about a favorite grocery store, Byerlys, in my husband's hometown in Minnesota. Partially carpeted — how warm? how welcoming? — Byerlys introduced me to what a grocery store could be, not only a place to buy groceries but dinner, too: fully prepared meals, delicious soups and salads, all packed and ready to go.

Can I tell you the best part though? After you paid for your groceries, you left them there! Then you walked to your car and drove to a designated location where someone loaded them into your trunk! This all sounds almost normal given the times, but back then it felt revolutionary.

One of my favorite salads from Byerlys was loaded with broccoli, sunflower seeds, raisins, and bacon. Ben's mom always picked up several quarts of it before we headed off to the lake for the weekend. Oh, Friends, what a dream?! Carpeted grocery stores! Deli salads! Trips to a lake!

Will we ever get there again?

I hope so. Until then, we can make this broccoli salad and feel partway there. I've changed the ingredients a bit — added quinoa and toasted almonds, omitted the bacon, used dried cranberries in place of raisins — but the spirit of the salad is the same: a hearty, packable salad that keeps well for days.

This is a great salad to make ahead to have on hand for lunches and dinners throughout the week.

Get the recipe and watch the video here:

Broccoli Crunch Salad