Old Time Broccoli Opposite Salad

The smell is UNGODLY (not this salad! the smell in my car!!)  I am pretty sure we will have to sell my car because that smell will NEVER come out. My experience with car smells is,  a bad smell happens, there is no getting it out, you must sell the car. It’s a problem.

Old Time Broccoli Salad

I want to tell you more about the pungent demon, but first, I need to tell you about this Broccoli Salad. Amazingly, I had FORGOTTEN how flipping incredible this old timey Broccoli Salad is! Thank heavens for my new co-worker, Jimmy Sue who reminded me with her DELICIOUS rendition of this dish!

So, imagine….. the hallmark tastes of sweet and sour mingling together on your tongue, right? Now, conjure up some crunchy vs. chewy? Add the BRIGHT snap of something poignant against something deep and rich? and oh yeah!!! BACON. BACON? The smokey goodness of BACON! OH MAN! Can you taste it yet?? Are you imagining how wonderful this salad can be? Those flavor opposites are what this salad is all about

IN FACT that is what this salad SHOULD be called. Broccoli Opposite Salad. I’m gonna think on naming this post that – so if you see it in the title, now you will know why.

This is an old recipe. I remember this recipe from when I was a kid at church pot luck dinners. I also found a copy of this in some recipes that my daughter brought over that had belonged to her husband’s grandmother. I’m guessing this was popular in about 1975. You tell me if I’m wrong.

You know I have a promise that I keep to you – to only share delicious dishes that your family will beg you for more of, right? This is one. Here is how I know. When I was a kid – I HATED broccoli. I died a million deaths at the mention of the WORD broccoli. However, I WOULD eat this salad.

You will note, it does have sugar. You might ask, can I substitute the sugar for honey? Can I cut the sugar in half? Can I leave the sugar out? The answer to all of those things is “yes, you can”. The answer to all of things is also, “It won’t taste the same”.

When my mom made this salad when I was a kid, she only added the scantest Tablespoon of sugar with the reasoning that “the raisins are sweet enough”. She also used “I can’t tell that it is Mayonnaise” Mayo substitute. Who knows what was in that stuff? (Not the actual name – but you get the picture).

I am recommending to you, try the salad the way it is written and then make changes according to your taste the next time you make the salad. I say that because, you  might convert non-veggie eating kids and spouses with this recipe. Once they are willing to eat it – you can always cut back then. For now, the broccoli is hardly noticeable against all of the other rich goodness!

It is like broccoli candy!

Look at me! I eat broccoli all the time now and love it!

Now, here is what I DO NOT love about Broccoli. Broccoli rolls. It gets around just as if it had feet! It gets out of your grocery bag too, if given the chance. If you aren’t right on top of things, you might not notice it missing from the grocery sack for several days. Suppose you work from home and only drive the car once a week? What if the broccoli gets loose in your CAR????

EWWWW….. Right?

The smell of a broccoli that has been hiding under the seat in a hot car for a week is just about the worst smell ever. It doesn’t seem to be leaving either. I rolled the windows down – did not help! The next option was a trip to the professional car wash.

I appologized profusely to the guy at the carwash place. I explained that the broccoli got loose and ended up under the back seat for about a week before I found it. I got a suspicious look. That made me nervous and I explained more….. probably too much. He just took the car keys and gave me a look and said, “we will use the spray on air freshner”.

Now my car smells like coconut scented rotten broccoli.

Anyone with a faulty nose interested in an SUV at a good price?

Need MORE Broccoli Info? 

How to Freeze Broccoli

How to Boil Broccoli

Blanch Broccoli

How to Cook Frozen Broccoli

Broccoli Cheese Casserole

THE RECIPE FOR Old Time Broccoli Opposite Salad 

Old Time Broccoli Opposite Salad

This is a cinch to throw together and tastes just like my childhood, which was delicious by the way.  

5 from 1 vote

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Course: Salad

Cuisine: American

Keyword: broccoli salad

Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes minutes

Servings: 8 servings

Calories: 220kcal

Author: Wendi Spraker

Ingredients

• 1 Cup mayonnaise
• 2 Tbs Balsamic Vinegar
• ⅓ scant cup white granulated sugar
• 2 Large bunches of broccoli crowns - crowns only cut into small - one inch pieces or smaller.
• 8-10 pieces of bacon - fried crispy ok to do in microwave and crushed.
• ½ - 1 Cup Raisins
• ¼ cup Red Onion - chopped small
• ½ cup chopped pecans

Instructions

• The night before you will make the salad, mix together in a medium sized bowl the mayonnaise, vinegar and sugar. Mix well and then refrigerate.
• Cut the broccoli crowns into small one inch or smaller pieces and set aside.
• Fry the bacon till crispy or microwave on paper towels till crunchy - then crush into small bits. Cut the onion into small pieces as well. Chop your pecans into small bits.
• Mix together the broccoli, bacon, raisins, red onion and pecans using your hands. Pour the dressing that you have refrigerated overnight over the top and mix well with a spatula. Place into a sealed container and refrigerate until ready to use. Mix again before serving. Will keep for about a week. Is even better on day two!

Notes

Substitute any kind of nut you like

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts

Old Time Broccoli Opposite Salad

Amount Per Serving

Calories 220

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Tried this recipe?Mention @loavesanddishes or tag #loavesanddishes!

TIPS AND TRICKS FOR Old Time Broccoli Opposite Salad

• Cut the broccoli in small pieces. This is important. No one wants to be crunching away on giant pieces of broccoli that grow in  your mouth for this salad. Cut them small enough so that two or three pieces makes a mouth full. This allows the dressing to get all in the nooks and crannies.
• If you forget to mix the dressing up the night before, at least allow it several hours in the fridge for the flavors to meld.
• Once the broccoli salad is prepared, allow it to sit in the fridge for several hours before you dig in, trust me, it is better that way.
• The salad is even better on day 2.
• This makes a reasonable amount and is perfect to take to a potluck or to share at the holiday
• Perfect for a holiday dinner –  make several days ahead and refrigerate
• Wonderful with all of the hot typical Thanksgiving and Christmas dishes.
• I believe that you could easily substitute dried cranberries or cherries for the raisins and wowee – probably an awesome dish as well – although, I haven’t tried it myself.
• Do NOT leave Broccoli in  your car for any longer than necessary to transport home. Just saying.

A VERSE TO SHARE

A thing keeps happening to me. I mention it here because maybe it happens to you too. Perhaps I should say it happens around me. I read in my social media feed and I see quotes that say that Christians are just believing in a fairy tale.

I have also been in discussion with other believers who have real doubts about tenants of the Bible such as a Virgin birth, the creation of the Universe, the reality of Adam and Eve or the possibility of Noah’s Ark and even about questions about the Crucifixion being real.

Thus, believing is an issue for many – and not just for those who state that they absolutely do NOT believe.

Do I know that Bible events are real? Do I KNOW? No. I don’t KNOW. Instead, I believe that God has given us a story and it is up to us to learn from that story. It is up to us to believe.

Here is what I DO know:  I completely understand that I DO NOT know everything. I also understand that you DO NOT know everything. It doesn’t matter what kind of education you have, you still DO NOT know everything. It is mightily haughty and ignorant of you to believe that man and science know everything there is to know – that sounds like a recipe for failure to me.

In addition, because of my past studies,  I can tell you that our science has proven itself wrong over and over again through history and is flawed in it’s own right.

What I DO believe is in the everlasting TRUTH of Jesus Christ.

I see room for both Jesus and science at the table of human truth. Why does one have to make the other wrong? In my opinion, God created science. The underlying science of the universe is part of the beauty of the whole thing, if you ask me.

I do know this, Jesus himself said that those who believe in Him without seeing are blessed. Count me in that camp. As far as I know, we don’t know it all yet.

So, yes, you can’t reason with me concerning my religion because my religion isn’t reason based. It is belief based. Just like I can’t give a Bible verse to an atheist and make them believe the Bible. My belief is just as valid as your reasoning. Last I knew, we have equal rights.

 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.

Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.  If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

Now Thomas (also known as Didymus^[a]), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”

But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”

A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!”  Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”

Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”

Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

John 20: 19-29