Two of my co-workers very nicely gave me a list of restaurants to check out in the Great Lakes Bay region, which Midland is a part of, when we first arrived. To them it was a simple gesture; to a Singaporean who loves food, that gesture was more than just friendly. They have a firm place as two of my favorite people in Midland!
Leon and I had many a wonderful evening checking out those restaurants, and even though we're not done with the list yet, we already have our favorites. One of these is Deuce's Char House, which I blogged about last year. It was at Char House that I first had broccoli salad, and which besides the prime ribs, is the highlight of every repeat visit to this little restaurant.
Lately, since discovering that i am overachieving on my triglycerides numbers, we've been making a conscious effort to eat healthy and including salad in at least one of our meals. But you can only go on for so long having only olive oil and balsamic vinegar on your salads! So I went in search of a recipe for broccoli salad.
Oh. My. Gawd. The stuff called for in the broccoli salad's dressing, while simple, certainly wouldn't count as healthy - a cup of mayo, 1/3 cup sugar, 2.5 tablespoons of vinegar (this is ok). The devil definitely invented salad dressing...and I wanted to identify his earthly collaborators! It seems ancient Rome and Greece were already eating mixed greens with dressing. And each type of the more well known salad dressing - caesar, ranch etc - had their own 'inventors'. Too many people to focus the blame on.
So here's the broccoli salad recipe - I added gabanzos and corn because I like them in cold salads. Try it once and then modify to tone it down to suit your taste.
Ingredients
1 to 2 crowns of broccoli, cut to bite size (I would also shave the stem to its core because the white insides, when cut to little cubes, add a nice crunch and taste great)
1/2 cup of raisins
1 cup of gabanzos/chick peas
1 cup of corn
1/2 cup of chopped red onions (I used yellow)
1 and 1/2 cup of grated sharp cheddar cheese (mozzarella cheese also ok)
3 to 4 strips of cooked bacon
Dressing
1 cup of mayonnaise (I used a version made with olive oil, Hellmann's brand)
1/3 cup sugar (I reduced this to 1/2 tablespoon when I made it again)
2 and 1/2 tablespoons of vinegar
1. Mix dressing in a separate bowl.
2. Cook bacon if not cooked yet. Cut or crumble into small pieces depending on whether you cooked your bacon crunchy or just cooked.
3. Mix everything in a large bowl and ready to serve
4. Best if made a day ahead and chilled in fridge.
No, you do not have to blanch your broccoli. I don't know if this is strange for you but coming from Asia, we always cook our broccoli and cauliflower. Here, it's eaten raw in salad, and I've developed a taste for these! I can eat raw cauliflower all day. No, I lie. I can eat raw cauliflower in a salad a meal a day.
Anyway, 5 pounds lost and counting. I need to lose 25 pounds or so this year and that's already the discounted rate.
Leon and I had many a wonderful evening checking out those restaurants, and even though we're not done with the list yet, we already have our favorites. One of these is Deuce's Char House, which I blogged about last year. It was at Char House that I first had broccoli salad, and which besides the prime ribs, is the highlight of every repeat visit to this little restaurant.
Lately, since discovering that i am overachieving on my triglycerides numbers, we've been making a conscious effort to eat healthy and including salad in at least one of our meals. But you can only go on for so long having only olive oil and balsamic vinegar on your salads! So I went in search of a recipe for broccoli salad.
Oh. My. Gawd. The stuff called for in the broccoli salad's dressing, while simple, certainly wouldn't count as healthy - a cup of mayo, 1/3 cup sugar, 2.5 tablespoons of vinegar (this is ok). The devil definitely invented salad dressing...and I wanted to identify his earthly collaborators! It seems ancient Rome and Greece were already eating mixed greens with dressing. And each type of the more well known salad dressing - caesar, ranch etc - had their own 'inventors'. Too many people to focus the blame on.
So here's the broccoli salad recipe - I added gabanzos and corn because I like them in cold salads. Try it once and then modify to tone it down to suit your taste.
 |
| A very enjoyable lunch box - colorful and yummy. |
1 to 2 crowns of broccoli, cut to bite size (I would also shave the stem to its core because the white insides, when cut to little cubes, add a nice crunch and taste great)
1/2 cup of raisins
1 cup of gabanzos/chick peas
1 cup of corn
1/2 cup of chopped red onions (I used yellow)
1 and 1/2 cup of grated sharp cheddar cheese (mozzarella cheese also ok)
3 to 4 strips of cooked bacon
Dressing
1 cup of mayonnaise (I used a version made with olive oil, Hellmann's brand)
1/3 cup sugar (I reduced this to 1/2 tablespoon when I made it again)
2 and 1/2 tablespoons of vinegar
1. Mix dressing in a separate bowl.
2. Cook bacon if not cooked yet. Cut or crumble into small pieces depending on whether you cooked your bacon crunchy or just cooked.
3. Mix everything in a large bowl and ready to serve
4. Best if made a day ahead and chilled in fridge.
No, you do not have to blanch your broccoli. I don't know if this is strange for you but coming from Asia, we always cook our broccoli and cauliflower. Here, it's eaten raw in salad, and I've developed a taste for these! I can eat raw cauliflower all day. No, I lie. I can eat raw cauliflower in a salad a meal a day.
Anyway, 5 pounds lost and counting. I need to lose 25 pounds or so this year and that's already the discounted rate.
Hope to see both of you in good shape when you make your trip back!
ReplyDeleteKeep sharing on the good food.