Southern Comforts with the Gardners: Classic Broccoli Salad

Hello friends! Here is any easy and classic recipe that I love to make for cookouts, BBQ's or any other summer occasion. This salad is a great alternative to the traditional potato salad or coleslaw. It's really easy to make the night ahead, keep in the fridge and voile! Your dish is ready to go! The best part is that there is NO COOKING involved and you won't have to worry about keeping your dish warm because this is a chilled dish. I mean who really wants to spend hours in a hot kitchen during a HOT summer like we have had this year. Let me know what you think!

INGREDIENTS:

-1 head fresh broccoli cut into bite size pieces
-1/2 cup raisins
-1/2 cup shredded extra sharp cheddar cheese
-1/4 cup chopped red onions
-2 tbsp white sugar
-3 tbsp white wine vinegar
-1 cup mayonnaise
-1 cup sunflower seeds
-10 slices of cooked bacon, crumbled

DIRECTIONS:

-In a large salad bowl combine chopped broccoli, raisins, shredded cheese and red onion.
-In a separate bowl whisk together white sugar, vinegar and mayo to make a dressing for the salad.
-Pour the dressing over the broccoli mixture and toss together to coat evenly. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours, preferably overnight.
-Before serving toss in the bacon and sunflower seeds to make sure they keep a little of their crispness.

TIPS:

-There are tons of variations to this classic chilled salad such as: substituting grape halves or dried cranberries for the raisins, adding sliced almonds or pine nuts instead of sunflower seeds, or adding some cauliflower or grape tomatoes to the mix!
-My favorite brand of mayonnaise is Duke's. It's been around forever and is a staple of Southern home cooks. If it means anything to you, it's Paula Deen's mayo of choice! I buy the one with the yellow lid, NOT the dressing with the blue lid.
-TIME SAVERS: Buy precut broccoli, precut red onions, bagged shredded cheese, and bacon bits (not the red, hard bacon bits, but the softer pieces of bacon in the little bag, in the salad dressing aisle) to literally throw your salad together in minutes!