When I’d visit my mother deep in the Eastern Townships in summer, we’d eat this creamy broccoli salad with the meat, right on the picnic table, with my kids and my dog running around everywhere. It was so much fun. She’d serve it to go with our grilled steaks, and it inspired me to make my own version. It’s so simple to make, and we don’t think of it often enough.<\/p>\n
My version stands out on a few details. I use crispy pancetta instead of bacon: it’s finer, more delicate, and truly delicious. I don’t put any sugar in the dressing, just white balsamic vinegar, because the red grapes and cranberries already bring all the sweetness you need. And I add herbes de Provence, which I love and would put on everything. The result is creamy, crunchy, sweet and salty, without being cloying like some overly sweet versions.<\/p>\n
The secret is to let the salad rest in the fridge for an hour before serving. That’s my mother’s trick: the rest softens the raw broccoli just enough and lets the flavors develop. I keep the broccoli completely raw for the crunch, but if you prefer, you can blanch it for a minute. The key, if you blanch it, is to drain it very well and make sure it’s completely dry, otherwise your salad will be watery.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\ud83e\udd66 My mother’s broccoli salad, back in the Eastern Townships When I’d visit my mother deep in the Eastern Townships in summer, we’d eat this creamy broccoli salad with the meat, right on the picnic table, with my kids and my dog running around everywhere. It was so much fun. …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":9221,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_focuskw":"","_yoast_wpseo_title":"Creamy Broccoli Salad Recipe","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"This creamy broccoli salad is crunchy, tangy, and loaded with bacon and cheddar. The easy potluck side everyone requests.","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-title":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-description":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-image":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-title":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-description":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-image":"","_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":""},"recipe_category":[165,178],"sponsorship":[],"class_list":["post-1040","recipe","type-recipe","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","recipe_category-lunches-en","recipe_category-sides"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n