Broccoli Cheddar Salad

One of my favorite things to do is to make a big salad and eat it during the week for lunch and send some with Mister Tipsy for his lunches at work. Mister Tipsy’s Dad also enjoys having a salad on hand therefore I experiment with making different kinds of salad dressings and trying different combinations of vegetables. I started making this Broccoli Cheddar Salad a few years ago and it is always a fan favorite. This particular variation of Broccoli Cheddar Salad has toasted pumpkin seeds and a mustard based dressing but you can add any kind of crunch to it that you choose and any kind of dressing. For this particular Broccoli Cheddar Salad I used frozen broccoli instead of fresh and I have to say that I really liked the flavor of it and the convenience. The frozen broccoli was super crunchy and there was no work of blanching fresh broccoli. I got all of the ingredients for this Broccoli Cheddar Salad at Aldi, it cost me about $15 and made about 12 servings. Here is what you will need to make this salad:

• 2 16 ounce bags of frozen broccoli florets
• 1 8 ounce block of sharp cheddar
• 1 8ounce package of white mushrooms
• 1/2 C of pepitas roasted with salt
• 1/2 C of olive oil
• 1/2 C of white wine vinegar
• 3 green onions
• 2 T of dijon mustrad
• 2 t of garlic salt
• 1 t of ground mustard
• 1 t of black pepper
• 1 t of brown sugar

Again, I got all of my ingredients at Aldi, but you can buy the ingredients anywhere. The pepitas are roasted pumpkin seeds but you can use any other kind of seed or nut in place of the pepitas if you can’t find them. I have used:

• toasted walnuts
• almonds
• pine nuts
• cashews
• honey roasted peanuts

There is only one trick to making this recipe and that is slicing your mushrooms very thin and also slicing your cheddar cheese into very small matchstick sized pieces. I have also cubed the cheddar very small as well to make it easier to eat. I personally prefer the matchstick pieces but it is up to you. The steps for the Broccoli Cheddar Salad are as follows:

1. Thaw, rinse and drain your broccoli. I actually take it a step further and drain the broccoli on a clean dish towel so that there is very little water. You can also do this on paper towels.
2. Slice your mushrooms very thin. You can also dice the mushrooms as well.
3. Slice your cheddar cheese and then slice thin strips from the slices.
4. If you are not using already toasted nuts, toast your nuts in a little bit of oil or butter.
5. Slice your green onions, both the white and green parts very thin.
6. In a bowl, add your olive oil, vinegar, all your spices and the mustard to the bowl and whisk until combined. Then add the brown sugar and green onions and whisk again until combined.
7. When you are ready to serve your salad, toss the mushrooms and cheddar with the broccoli and then sprinkle with the toasted nuts.
8. I make this salad ahead of time for lunches, so I add the dressing to each individual serving. If you are serving this as a meal or a party dish, toss the salad with the dressing and serve. If you plan to eat this salad in a day or two, you can toss the salad in the dressing, it does taste better after it soaks into the broccoli a little but it will get soggy after a couple of days. Use your best judgement for how you want to serve this Broccoli Cheddar Salad.

If you wanted to make this a complete meal you can also add some grilled chicken or diced ham. You may find that you prefer a creamy dressing or something sweeter like a honey mustard. This salad is very versatile you can add what you want to it. I sometimes also like to add diced purple onion and that makes it have another layer of great flavor. This salad is super healthy and probably fits into lots of diets some of y’all may follow.

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Broccoli Cheddar Salad

Ingredients

• 2 16 ounce bags of frozen broccoli florets
• 1 8 ounce block of sharp cheddar
• 1 8ounce package of white mushrooms
• 1/2 C of pepitas roasted with salt
• 1/2 C of olive oil
• 1/2 C of white wine vinegar
• 3 green onions
• 2 T of dijon mustrad
• 2 t of garlic salt
• 1 t of ground mustard
• 1 t of black pepper
• 1 t of brown sugar

Steps

1. Thaw, rinse and drain your broccoli. I actually take it a step further and drain the broccoli on a clean dish towel so that there is very little water. You can also do this on paper towels.
2. Slice your mushrooms very thin. You can also dice the mushrooms as well.
3. Slice your cheddar cheese and then slice thin strips from the slices.
4. If you are not using already toasted nuts, toast your nuts in a little bit of oil or butter.
5. Slice your green onions, both the white and green parts very thin.
6. In a bowl, add your olive oil, vinegar, all your spices and the mustard to the bowl and whisk until combined. Then add the brown sugar and green onions and whisk again until combined.
7. When you are ready to serve your salad, toss the mushrooms and cheddar with the broccoli and then sprinkle with the toasted nuts.
8. I make this salad ahead of time for lunches, so I add the dressing to each individual serving. If you are serving this as a meal or a party dish, toss the salad with the dressing and serve. If you plan to eat this salad in a day or two, you can toss the salad in the dressing, it does taste better after it soaks into the broccoli a little but it will get soggy after a couple of days. Use your best judgement for how you want to serve this Broccoli Cheddar Salad.

I hope you enjoy this salad as much as we do . Thank you for reading and as always, happy eating!

Love, Tipsy

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